AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES 


AND 


RESEARCHES 


INTO    THE 


ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE. 


BY 


ALEXANDER  W.  BRADFORD 


NEW-YORK : 
DAYTON     AND     SAXTON, 

Corner  of  Fulton  and  Nassau-streets. 

BOSTON:     SAXTON    AND     PIERCE. 

1841. 


c7/ 

6?? 


I 


ENTERED  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1841,  by 

ALEXANDER  W.   BRADFORD, 

i  n  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District  of 
New-York. 


UNIVERSITY  PRESS: 
JOHN  F.  TROW,  PRINTER,  114  NASSAU- STREET. 


in 


• 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES 


AND 


RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY 


RED    RACE. 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

INTRODUCTION, 9 

PART  I.— AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

CHAPTER  I. 
Indian  Antiquities, 15 

CHAPTER  II. 
Ancient  Remains  in  the  United  States, 21 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  same  subject  continued, 34 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  same  subject  continued,        .  '•    ....        .        .        .51 

CHAPTER  V. 

Antiquities  in  Mexico  and  the  adjacent  States,    .        .        .        ^72 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Antiquities  in  South  America, 123 

PART  II.— RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND  HIS 
TORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Comparison  of  the  Ancient  Monuments,      .        .        .        .        .  163 

CHAPTER  II. 
Ancient  Civilization. — Aboriginal  Migrations,    ....  172 

CHAPTER  III. 
Aboriginal  Migrations, 199 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Routes  of  Migration, 

CHAPTER  V. 

Ancient  Navigation  and  the  Drifting  of  Vessels, 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Origin  of  the  Aborigines. — Physical  Appearance, 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  same  subject  continued. — Language,  . 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  same  subject  continued. — Astronomy, 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  same  subject  continued. — Religion, 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  same  subject  continued,        .        .        .        . 

CHAPTER  XI. 
The  Pyramids, 

CHAPTER  XII. 
The  Conclusion,  . 


Page 
.  215 


.  220 


.  238 


309 


315 


339 


.  365 

.  420 


430 


ERRATA. 


read 


Page   32,     line 

1, 

dele 

"      53,        " 

19, 

for    620, 

«      74,        " 

21, 

"      Teote, 

"      99,       " 

5, 

"      Itzlan, 

"    200,    .    " 

19, 

"      Olmees, 

"    216,        '< 

19, 

"      Dialogues, 

u    247,        " 

U, 

"      Barabba, 

"    265,        " 

17, 

"      Forquemada, 

«    371,        " 

27, 

"     Propyloea, 

the. 

120. 

Teotl. 

Itzalan. 

Olmees. 

Dialogue. 

Barabra. 

Torquemada. 

Propyla. 


PREFACE. 


ANTIQUARIAN  writings  have  so  often  been  exposed  to  the  charge 
of  being  replete  with  improbable  conjectures,  and  conclusions  which 
vanish  at  the  touch  of  sober  reason,  that  this  interesting  class  of  his 
torical  investigations  seldom  receives  the  perusal  of  the  plain-think 
ing  portion  of  the  public.  It  was  but  just,  therefore,  to  the  subject  of 
this  work,  to  draw  a  line  of  distinction  between  facts,  and  the  reason 
ing  of  the  author  upon  those  facts.  For  this  reason,  in  the  first  por 
tion  of  this  volume,  with  but  few  exceptions,  I  have  strictly  confined 
myself  to  a  description  of  the  ancient  American  monuments,  pursuing, 
in  as  faithful  a  manner  as  was  consistent  with  proper  brevity,  the  lan 
guage  of  my  authorities  ;  and  thus  affording  to  the  reader  an  oppor 
tunity  to  frame  his  own  conclusions,  and  to  test  the  accuracy  of  mine. 
Mr.  Stephens'  travels  in  Central  America  were  published  so  recently, 
that  I  have  been  unable  to  use  them  with  advantage ;  but  they  have 
been  so  extensively  read,  that  this  deficiency  is  of  the  less  moment. 

In  the  second  part  of  this  work  an  attempt  is  made  to  solve  some 
interesting  problems  of  ancient  aboriginal  history.  These  involve 
topics  of  so  diversified  a  character,  are  so  extensive  in  their  bearings, 
and  are  predicated  upon  so  many  and  various  proofs,  that  in  many 
cases  it  was  found  incompatible  with  my  proposed  limits,  to  do  more 
than  illustrate  the  several  propositions  by  a  portion  of  the  testimo 
nies.  Many  of  them  may  therefore  be  considered  as  brief  statements 
necessary  to  the  chain  of  argument,  and  as  capable  of  further  proof. 
As  to  the  conclusions  which  have  been  attained  no  one  can  be  more 
alive  than  myself  to  the  fact,  that  in  many  cases  they  are  opposed  to 


6  PREFACE. 

the  usually  received  opinions  upon  these  subjects.  In  relation  to  the 
question  of  origin,  no  predisposition  in  favor  of  the  result  to  which  I 
have  arrived,  has  influenced  the  investigation ;  for,  biased  at  the  out 
set  strongly  towards  the  theory  of  a  migration  by  Behring's  straits, 
it  was  only  at  a  later  stage  of  the  examination,  and  after  a  long  strug 
gle,  that  I  was  forced  to  abandon  this  idea ; — with  what  reason  others 
must  determine.  After  all,  the  inquiry,  by  what  route  the  aborigines 
reached  our  shores,  is  one  of  minor  importance.  It  is  a  fact  upon 
which  little  depends ;  in  view  of  the  extensive  diffusion  of  the  Red 
race  over  the  eastern  hemisphere,  it  cannot  be  of  much  consequence, 
whether  they  came  across  the  Atlantic,  or  the  southern  or  northern 
Pacific.  In  either  case,  by  other  proofs  their  antiquity  is  not  less 
certain ;  the  primitive  character  of  their  institutions  and  civilization 
is  not  the  less  demonstrable ;  and  at  the  most,  it  could  affect  only 
some  problems  connected  with  their  internal  history. 

Few  can  be  more  sensible  than  myself  of  the  imperfections  of  this 
work,  or  feel  more  its  defects  in  point  of  research.  Having  had  no 
opportunity  of  consulting  several  scarce  authorities,  I  am  aware  that 
more  light  might  have  been  thrown  upon  many  of  the  points  it  dis 
cusses.  My  chief  consolation  has  been,  that  even  the  humblest  con 
tributions  to  so  interesting  and  noble  a  theme  would  be  received  with 
kindness.  Just  criticism,  however,  is  essential  to  the  elucidation  of 
truth,  and  is  to  be  deprecated  least  of  all  upon  topics  still  deeply  en- 
enveloped  in  mystery  and  doubt. 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  term  History,  in  its  usual  acceptation,  is  somewhat 
restricted  in  its  scope  and  application.  If  its  extent  were 
strictly  limited  to  authentic  narratives  and  records,  such  have 
been  the  results  of  time,  of  accidents,  and  of  barbarian  violence, 
that  only  a  small  portion  of  the  human  race  has  preserved  any 
very  ancient  written  memorials ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  the 
historical  facts  contained  in  the  Sacred  Volume,  we  should  be 
left  in  ignorance  of  the  most  important  occurrences  of  the  early 
ages  of  the  world.  Thus  of  necessity  are  mankind  impelled,  in 
the  gratification  of  a  laudable  curiosity,  to  examine  other  chan 
nels  by  which  the  events  of  remote  antiquity  may  have  been 
transmitted,  and  to  study  and  compare  the  languages,  customs, 
traditions,  science,  religion  and  monuments  of  nations.  It  is 
true,  researches  of  this  character  do  not  always  afford  certain 
and  definite  conclusions;  but  frequently  this  arises  from  the 
method  of  conducting  the  argument,  or  from  the  insufficiency 
of  the  data,  and  not  necessarily  from  the  essential  nature  of  the 
testimony.  And  even  when  sound  conclusions  cannot  be 
attained,  the  interest  of  the  subject  compensates,  in  some 
degree,  for  the  want  of  success ;  for  these  studies  lead  directly 

2 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

into  the  investigation  of  the  greatest  problems  of  human  his 
tory — the  origin,  affiliation,  and  migrations  of  nations,  the 
progress  of  society,  civilization,  knowledge  and  religion. 

And  if  "the  development  of  the  human  race  is  history," 
where  is  that  development  more  clearly  exhibited,  than  in  the 
monuments,  and  in  the  civil  and  religious  institutions  of  man 
kind  ?  The  character  of  a  people  is  to  be  read  in  their  archi 
tectural  productions, — their  dwellings  unfold  their  domestic 
manners,  and  often  the  relative  condition  of  different  classes  in 
society, — the  monuments  erected  to  the  memory  of  the  illustri 
ous  dead  disclose  those  traits  of  humanity  held  in  esteem  and 
honor,— the  cemeteries  tend  to  exhibit  their  belief  as  to  a 
future  existence,  and  the  temples  and  places  of  worship  to 
denote  their  religious  ideas.  Monumental  antiquities  perpetu 
ate  also  epochs  and  occurrences,  as  well  as  national  character 
istics.  Truth-telling  remnants,  which  have  escaped  the  ship 
wreck  of  time,  or  rather  the  organic  remains  of  history,  they 
often  indicate  those  great  changes  and  convulsions  which  have 
occurred,  as  well  in  the  social  as  in  the  physical  world,  and 
expose  in  outline  the  leading  events  of  primeval  ages. 

Tradition  and  mythology  are  no  'less  valuable  aids  in  the 
elucidation  of  ancient  history.  Though,  when  isolated,  of 
doubtful  authority,  in  combination  they  cement  and  perfect  an 
historical  fabric,  the  parts  of  which,  incomplete  of  themselves, 
are  harmonized  and  strengthened  by  union.  It  is  known  that 
the  mythological  systems  of  the  ancients  were  but  the  expres 
sion  of  certain  religious  ideas,  sometimes  interwoven  with  cos- 
mogonical  philosophy,  or  were  descriptive  of  real  events  trans 
formed  into  theological  fables.  In  these,  and  in  traditions, 
whereof  some  are  as  old  as  the  deluge,  should  we  search  for 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

the  relics  of  the  history  of  knowledge  and  civilization,  to  extri 
cate  them  from  the  mass  of  folly  and  superstition  in  which  they 
are  enshrouded.  The  ore  lies  deep,  but  not  beyond  reach ;  and 
though,  from  the  very  nature  of  things,  success  cannot  be  imme 
diate,  the  difficulties  to  be  encountered  are  such  as  more  exten 
sive  research  may  hereafter  overcome. 

Nor  should  the  inestimable  worth  of  the  results  of  such 
inquiries,  when  successful,  be  forgotten  during  the  process  of 
investigation.  The  details,  often  perhaps  dry  and  wearisome, 
are  still  necessary  steps  in  the  progress  towards  a  just  conclu 
sion,  and  should  be  borne  with  patiently,  as  a  portion  of  that 
burden  which  knowledge  always  imposes  upon  those  engaged 
in  her  pursuit.  Their  gradual  and  successive  development  is 
just  as  essential,  to  the  solution  of  these  interesting  questions,  as 
were  the  slow,  minute  and  laborious  calculations  of  mathemati 
cians,  to  the  discovery  of  the  sublime  truths  of  astronomy.  Like 
the  base  of  some  ancient  column,  covered  with  fallen  fragments 
almost  defying  the  efforts  of  the  explorer  to  restore  it  to  its 
former  light  and  glory,  primitive  history  is  hidden  deep  amid 
the  gloom  of  time  and  the  crumbling  ruins  of  antiquity,  to  be 
revealed  only  by  patient  inquiry  and  unwearied  zeal. 

These  remarks  are  peculiarly  applicable  to  the  elucidation 
of  American  Aboriginal  History,  by  means  of  the  traditions, 
monuments  and  institutions  of  its  native  inhabitants.  Investi 
gations  of  this  character,  always  involving  subjects  of  rational 
curiosity,  replete  with  useful  instruction,  and  of  great  moral  and 
historical  moment,  rise  in  value  and  dignity  when  appertaining 
to  the  whole  aboriginal  population  of  a  vast  continent,  probably 
untrodden  by  any  other  race  of  human  beings,  until  a  period 
comparatively  recent  in  the  annals  of  the  world.  And  yet  they 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

into  the  investigation  of  the  greatest  problems  of  human  his 
tory — the  origin,  affiliation,  and  migrations  of  nations,  the 
progress  of  society,  civilization,  knowledge  and  religion. 

And  if  "the  development  of  the  human  race  is  history," 
where  is  that  development  more  clearly  exhibited,  than  in  the 
monuments,  and  in  the  civil  and  religious  institutions  of  man 
kind  ?  The  character  of  a  people  is  to  be  read  in  their  archi 
tectural  productions, — their  dwellings  unfold  their  domestic 
manners,  and  often  the  relative  condition  of  different  classes  in 
society, — the  monuments  erected  to  the  memory  of  the  illustri 
ous  dead  disclose  those  traits  of  humanity  held  in  esteem  and 
honor,— the  cemeteries  tend  to  exhibit  their  belief  as  to  a 
future  existence,  and  the  temples  and  places  of  worship  to 
denote  their  religious  ideas.  Monumental  antiquities  perpetu 
ate  also  epochs  and  occurrences,  as  well  as  national  character 
istics.  Truth-telling  remnants,  which  have  escaped  the  ship 
wreck  of  time,  or  rather  the  organic  remains  of  history,  they 
often  indicate  those  great  changes  and  convulsions  which  have 
occurred,  as  well  in  the  social  as  in  the  physical  world,  and 
expose  in  outline  the  leading  events  of  primeval  ages. 

Tradition  and  mythology  are  no  'less  valuable  aids  in  the 
elucidation  of  ancient  history.  Though,  when  isolated,  of 
doubtful  authority,  in  combination  they  cement  and  perfect  an 
historical  fabric,  the  parts  of  which,  incomplete  of  themselves, 
are  harmonized  and  strengthened  by  union.  It  is  known  that 
the  mythological  systems  of  the  ancients  were  but  the  expres 
sion  of  certain  religious  ideas,  sometimes  interwoven  with  cos- 
mogonical  philosophy,  or  were  descriptive  of  real  events  trans 
formed  into  theological  fables.  In  these,  and  in  traditions, 
whereof  some  are  as  old  as  the  deluge,  should  we  search  for 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

« 

the  relics  of  the  history  of  knowledge  and  civilization,  to  extri 
cate  them  from  the  mass  of  folly  and  superstition  in  which  they 
are  enshrouded.  The  ore  lies  deep,  but  not  beyond  reach  ;  and 
though,  from  the  very  nature  of  things,  success  cannot  be  imme 
diate,  the  difficulties  to  be  encountered  are  such  as  more  exten 
sive  research  may  hereafter  overcome. 

Nor  should  the  inestimable  worth  of  the  results  of  such 
inquiries,  when  successful,  be  forgotten  during  the  process  of 
investigation.  The  details,  often  perhaps  dry  and  wearisome, 
are  still  necessary  steps  in  the  progress  towards  a  just  conclu 
sion,  and  should  be  borne  with  patiently,  as  a  portion  of  that 
burden  which  knowledge  always  imposes  upon  those  engaged 
in  her  pursuit.  Their  gradual  and  successive  development  is 
just  as  essential,  to  the  solution  of  these  interesting  questions,  as 
were  the  slow,  minute  and  laborious  calculations  of  mathemati 
cians,  to  the  discovery  of  the  sublime  truths  of  astronomy.  Like 
the  base  of  some  ancient  column,  covered  with  fallen  fragments 
almost  defying  the  efforts  of  the  explorer  to  restore  it  to  its 
former  light  and  glory,  primitive  history  is  hidden  deep  amid 
the  gloom  of  time  and  the  crumbling  ruins  of  antiquity,  to  be 
revealed  only  by  patient  inquiry  and  unwearied  zeal. 

These  remarks  are  peculiarly  applicable  to  the  elucidation 
of  American  Aboriginal  History,  by  means  of  the  traditions, 
monuments  and  institutions  of  its  native  inhabitants.  Investi 
gations  of  this  character,  always  involving  subjects  of  rational 
curiosity,  replete  with  useful  instruction,  and  of  great  moral  and 
historical  moment,  rise  in  value  and  dignity  when  appertaining 
to  the  whole  aboriginal  population  of  a  vast  continent,  probably 
untrodden  by  any  other  race  of  human  beings,  until  a  period 
comparatively  recent  in  the  annals  of  the  world.  And  yet  they 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

• 

unfold  a  page  in  history  possessing  no  startling  dramatic  inter 
est,  adorned  with  none  of  the  glare  and  tinsel  of  the  eccentrici 
ties  of  genius,  unemblazoned  with  the  achievements  of  ambition, 
and  diversified  with  none  of  the  thrilling  incidents  of  personal 
adventure ;  but  they  rather  appeal  to  the  unbeguiled  judgment 
of  the  reason  by  their  intrinsic  worth,  as  the  only  method,  in 
the  absence  of  higher  testimony,  of  obtaining  any  just  deduc 
tions,  as  restoring  the  lost  and  broken  link  of  ancient  connection 
between  the  old  and  new  worlds,  and  as  tending  to  perfect  that 
chain,  by  which  all  mankind  are  traced  to  one  head  and  bound 
together  by  the  ties  of  a  common  origin.  It  is  with  deep 
impressions  of  this  nature,  that  the  future  exploration  of  Ameri 
can  antiquities  should  be  urged ;  for  we  are  as  yet  but  upon  the 
threshold,  and  though  sufficient  has  already  been  unveiled  for 
some  rational  conclusions,  the  cause  of  philosophy  and  know 
ledge  demands  a  more  accurate,  thorough  and  extensive  exam 
ination  of  monuments  that  are  fast  yielding  to  the  despoiling 
hand  of  man  and  the  attacks  of  time.  From  the  vague  and 
often  exaggerated  descriptions  of  some  of  the  early  travellers, 
and  from  the  conduct  of  the  conquerors  of  the  semi-civilized 
nations  of  Mexico,  Central  America,  Bogota  and  Peru,  infor 
mation  of  incalculable  value  has  been  lost  to  us.  It  is  impos 
sible  without  the  deepest  regret  and  indignation  to  revert  to 
that  period,  when  ancient  pictorial  manuscripts  were  burned, 
idols,  images  and  planispheres  destroyed  or  buried  in  the  earth, 
temples  levelled  with  the  ground  and  cities  razed — all  from  the 
lowest  motives  of  policy,  or  from  the  blind  zeal  of  superstition. 
A  frightful  chasm  has  thus  been  made  in  the  primitive  history 
of  this  continent,  irremediable  if  we  contemplate  merely  the 
immense  number  of  Mexican  picture-writings  that  were  wick- 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

edly  destroyed.  It  is  possible,  however,  yet  to  remedy  in  a 
great  measure  the  evil,  so  far  as  occasioned  by  this  wanton 
demolition  of  architectural  and  monumental  structures,  by  a 
careful  examination  of  those  which  have  escaped  the  violence 
of  the  Spanish  conquest;  and  the  subject  is  one  eminently 
worthy  of  American  enterprise. — To  embody  and  collate  the 
descriptions  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the  ancient  remains  and 
ruins  scattered  over  the  continent ;  to  compare  the  traditions, 
manners,  customs,  arts,  language,  civilization  and  religion  of 
its  aboriginal  inhabitants,  internally,  and  with  those  of  other 
nations  ;  and  thence  to  deduce  the  origin  of  the  American  race 
and  its  subsequent  migrations, — in  a  word,  to  attempt  the  deter 
mination  of  a  portion  of  its  unwritten  history,  is  the  object  of 
this  work ;  and  if,  in  any  event,  it  shall  serve  to  stimulate  curi 
osity  and  inquiry  upon  this  interesting  subject,  at  least  one 
important  purpose  will  have  been  accomplished. 


PART  J. 

• 

AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES, 


CHAPTER  I. 

INDIAN    ANTIQUITIES. 

THE  ancient  remains  of  art  existing  in  America  may  be 
divided  into  two  great  classes,  differing  in  style,  character  and 
importance.  The  first  class  comprehends  those  of  more  recent 
origin,  which  have  manifestly  proceeded  from  an  uncivilized 
people,  and  which  may  be  traced  throughout  the  whole  extent 
of  the  continent.  They  possess  the  same  uniformity  of  charac 
ter,  that  distinguishes  the  manners  and  institutions  of  all  the 
barbarous  Indian  tribes,  and  most  of  them  are  doubtless  of 
Indian  construction.  They  consist  chiefly  of  ornaments,  rude 
inscriptions,  and  paintings  not  unlike  the  semi-hieroglyphic 
symbols  at  present  employed  by  some  of  the  aboriginal  nations, 
and  of  such  implements  of  warfare  and  domestic  use,  as  are 
adapted  to  the  wants  of  savage  life ;  and  yet  they  exhibit  indi 
cations  of  that  mechanical  talent  and  dexterity  which  have  been 
observed  as  a  peculiar  trait  of  nearly  all  the  American  natives.* 

*  Archaeologia  Americana,  vol.  i.  pp.  112,  113,  114. — Bracken- 
ridge's  Journal,  p.  153. 


16  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

Specimens  of  aboriginal  art  and  ingenuity  are  being  con 
tinually  disinterred,  in  the  progress  of  the  cultivation  of  newly 
occupied  lands,  and  they  vary  but  slightly  from  those  fabricated 
by  the  present  tribes,  evincing  no  evidences  of  a  superior  state 
of  society.  Their  proximity  to  the  surface  of  the  earth  affords 
one  clue  to  distinguish  them  from  such  as  can  boast  of  a  higher 
antiquity,  which  are  usually  found  some  distance  beneath  the 
soil.  The  domestic  utensils,  flint  arrow-heads,  stone  ornaments, 
pipes,  chisels,  knives  and  tomahawks  thus  brought  to  light  sel 
dom  surpass,  in  workmanship  and  design,  those  of  acknowledged 
Indian  manufacture,  and  of  more  modern  date.  An  inferior 
kind  of  earthenware  is  of  very  usual  occurrence,  but  its  compo 
sition  is  more  rude,  and  its  execution  less  finished  than  those  of 
the  ancient  pottery,  while  it  does  not  excel  such  as  the  Indians 
have  been  accustomed  to  construct.* 

There  are  no  indications  of  any  military  or  architectural 
structures,  exhibiting  much  art,  which  can  be  clearly  assigned 
to  the  present  tribes.f  Some  fortifications  and  intrenchments 
have  been  ascribed  to  them,  but  merely  by  conjecture;  and 
their  dwellings  are  usually  formed  of  the  most  fragile  materials. 
The  Esquimaux  afford,  however,  an  exception  in  the  latter 
particular ;  for  the  remains  of  their  habitations  are  frequently  to 
be  observed  in  small  rude  circles  of  rough  stones,  and  trenched 
divisions  of  ground  in  a  circular  form.J  Their  method  of  con- 

*  Drake's  Picture  of  Cincinnati,  p.  200. — Charlevoix's  Voyage, 
vol.  ii.  p.  93. — "  The  nations  of  the  south  had  only  vessels  of  baked 
earth  to  dress  their  meat."  Charlevoix,  ibid. 

f  Description  of  Ohio,  Louisiana,  &c.,  p.  172. — Pike's  Expedition, 

p.  56. 

J  Back's  Narrative,  p.  253.— Parry's  Second  Voyage,  p.  15. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  17 

structing  their  huts  is  also  worthy  of  notice.  They  are  built 
with  blocks  of  snow,  in  the  shape  of  a  dome,  each  block  being 
cut  with  great  regularity  and  art,  into  the  shape  requisite  to 
form  a  substantial  arch,  and  having  no  support  whatever  but 
what  this  principle  supplies.*  It  may  be  remarked,  also,  that 
the  Esquimaux  are  accustomed  to  place  stones  and  slabs  in  an 
upright  position,  in  every  conspicuous  spot,  some  of  which  have 
been  compared  to  obelisks.  Similar  monuments  have  been 
observed  in  other  districts  of  the  continent ;  but  they  are  all 
unhewn,  extremely  rude,  and  bear  no  inscriptions.! 

Many  of  the  tumuli  formed  of  earth,  and  occasionally  of 
stones,  are  of  Indian  origin,  and  they  may  generally  be  distin 
guished  by  their  inferior  dimensions,  and  isolated  situations. 
They  are  mostly  sepulchral  mounds :  either  the  general  ceme 
tery  of  a  village  or  tribe ;  funeral  monuments  over  the  grave  of 
an  illustrious  chief,  or  upon  a  battle-field,  commemorating  the 
event  and  entombing  the  fallen;  or  the  result  of  a  custom, 
prevalent  among  some  of  the  tribes,  of  collecting  at  stated  in 
tervals  the  bones  of  the  dead,  and  interring  them  in  a  common 
repository.  A  mound  of  the  latter  description  was  formerly 
situated  on  the  low  grounds  of  the  Rivanna  river,  in  Virginia, 
opposite  the  site  of  an  old  Indian  village.J  It  was  forty  feet 
in  diameter  and  twelve  in  height,  of  a  spheroidal  form,  and  sur 
rounded  by  a  trench,  whence  the  earth  employed  in  its  erection 
had  been  excavated.  The  circumstances  indicating  the  custom 
alluded  to,  were  the  great  number  of  skeletons,  their  confused 
position,  their  situation  in  distinct  strata  exhibiting  different 

*  Parry's  Second  Voyage,  p.  34. 

t  Back's  Narrative,  p.  273.— Hodgson's  Travels,  vol.  ii.  App.  p.  434. 
I  Jefferson's  Notes  on  Virginia,  pp.  100,  103. 

3. 


18  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

stages  of  decomposition,  and  the  appearance  of  the  bones  of 
infants.  A  mound  of  similar  character,  and  constructed  in 
layers  or  strata  at  successive  periods,  existed  near  the  south 
branch  of  the  Shenandoah,  in  the  same  state. 

There  are  other  tumuli  ascribed  to  the  Indians,  consisting 
of  stones  thrown  rudely  together,  but  they  are  less  frequent  than 
those  formed  of  earth.  One  of  these,  upon  the  Blue  Ridge, 
upon  being  opened  was  found  to  contain  human  bones ;  and 
another,  in  New  York,  is  said  to  have  marked  the  grave 
of  a  distinguished  warrior.*  The  size  of  all  of  them  is  not 
invariably  diminutive,  as  we  are  informed  that  Fort  Watson,  in 
South  Carolina,  was  built  upon  the  summit  of  one  upwards  of 
thirty  feet  in  height  ;f  and,  according  to  an  authentic  report,  a 
mound  of  the  largest  dimensions  has  been  thrown  up  within  a 
few  years,  in  Illinois,  over  the  remains  of  an  eminent  chief.J 

So  materially  have  the  customs  and  institutions  of  the  In 
dians  been  changed  since  the  discovery,  that  most  of  these  tumuli 
are  of  considerable  age,  and  it  has  even  been  doubted,  whether 
they  were  constructed  by  the  immediate  ancestors  of  the  present 
Indians ;  but  it  appears,  from  a  very  respectable  authority,  that 
many  tribes  still  continue  to  this  day  to  raise  a  tumulus  over  the 
grave,  the  magnitude  of  which  is  proportioned  to  the  rank  and 
celebrity  of  the  deceased.^  We  find  these  mounds  scattered  at 
intervals  over  the  surface  of  both  Americas,  from  the  country  of 


*  Macauley's  History  of  New  York,  vol.  ii.  p.  239. 
t  Ramsay's  History  of  the  United  States,  vol.  ii.  p.  34. 
|  Beck's  Gazetteer,  p.  308. 

§  James,  vol.  ii,  p.  1. — Description  of  the  Red  River,  p.  152. — 
Brackenridge's  View  of  Louisiana,  p.  137. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  19 

the  Esquimaux  to  that  of  the  Fuegians  ;*  and  though  neither 
by  their  size  nor  their  contents,  do  they  impress  us  with  a  high 
opinion  of  the  civilization  of  their  authors,  still  they  shed  some 
light  upon  their  ancient  history.  If  the  Indians  are  the  branches 
and  descendants  of  a  more  civilized  people,  and  have  retrograded 
from  a  higher  condition  of  society — an  opinion  supported  by 
many  curious  facts — we  may  expect  to  find  the  greatest  differ 
ences  between  them,  and  their  more  civilized  ancestors,  in  such 
circumstances  as  are  always  affected  by  a  change  in  mode  of 
life ;  and  to  discover  the  strongest  signs  of  affinity,  if  any,  in 
religious  belief,  and  in  such  customs  as  are  arbitrary,  and  not 
the  spontaneous  and  natural  growth  of  a  particular  state  of 
society.  Accordingly  we  can  trace  a  few  such  resemblances 
in  their  productions  of  art,  and  in  their  domestic  manners ;  but 
the  moment  we  contemplate  their  religion,  and,  above  all,  their 
method  of  disposing  of  the  dead  and  their  sepulchral  monuments, 
a  great  and  striking  uniformity  is  exhibited.  Reverence  for  the 
dead,  though  it  be  a  feeling  common  to  all  mankind,  and  natural 
to  the  human  heart,  is  a  most  marked  and  distinguishing  trait 
in  the  character  of  the  members  of  the  Red  race — not  however 
as  a  sentiment,  but  as  a  religious  and  mystic  feeling,  springing 
less  from  the  kindly  affections  of  the  soul,  than  from  a  supersti 
tious  impression,  deeply  imprinted  in  the  very  elements  of  their 
character.  Even  among  such  barbarous  native  tribes,  as  possess 
the  lowest  estimate  of  social  virtues  and  duties,  and.  as  are  char 
acterized  by  the  most  savage  indifference  and  selfishness  in  all 
the  near  and  tender  relations  of  life,  the  moment  the  spirit  has 
left  the  body,  a  new  chord  seems  to  be  struck  in  the  hearts  of 

*  Parry's  Voyages. — Silliman. 


20  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

the  survivors,  and  those,  who  were  neglected  and  perhaps  hated 
when  living,  are  venerated  in  death ;  and  thus  monuments  have 
been  reared  over  the  bones  of  the  departed,  which,  when  alive 
and  in  the  full  tide  of  successful  power  and  commanding  influ 
ence,  they  could  not  have  extorted  as  tributes  of  respect  or 
obedience.  Amid  the  barren  waste  of  Indian  apathy,  here  is  a 
green  spot  whereon  to  rest  the  eye — a  singular  exception  to 
that  impenetrable,  obdurate  stoicism,  possessed  by  them,  in  com 
mon  with  the  more  cultivated  nations  of  the  same  race.  Herein 
we  perceive  the  reason,  why  the  tumuli  are  the  only  monuments 
of  the  Indians ;  for  with  this  religious  feeling,  as  transmitted  to 
them  from  their  forefathers,  they  have  also  preserved  the  custom 
of  erecting  sepulchral  mounds.  In  this  view,  these  rude  monu 
ments  are  of  important  consideration ;  for,  appearing  alike, 
among  the  remains  of  art,  and  in  the  seats  of  the  ancient  civil 
ized  nations,  and  in  remote  regions  whither  civilization  never 
penetrated,  they  develope  one  of  the  arguments  tending  to 
establish  the  common  origin  of  all  the  American  aborigines, 
whether  barbarous  or  cultivated. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  21 


CHAPTER    II. 

ANCIENT   REMAINS   IN   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

THE  next,  and  perhaps  the  only  legitimate  class  of  American 
antiquities,  affords  unquestionable  proofs  of  an  origin  from  na 
tions  of  great  cultivation.  Though  all  of  them  are  assimilated 
by  many  striking  general  resemblances,  still  their  local  position 
and  some  characteristic  differences  suggest  a  ternary  division, 
into  such  as  have  been  discovered,  1st,  within  the  territory  of 
the  United  States;  2d,  in  Central  America,  Mexico  and  the 
adjoining  provinces ;  and  3d,  in  Peru  and  other  parts  of  South 
America. 

1.  The  ancient  remains  of  the  United  States  bear  evident 
marks  of  being  the  production  of  a  people,  elevated  far  above 
the  savage  state.  Many  of  them  indicate  great  elegance  of 
taste,  and  a  high  degree  of  dexterous  workmanship  and  me 
chanical  skill,  in  their  construction ;  others  betoken  the  exist 
ence  of  a  decided  form  of  religious  worship ;  while  the  size 
and  extent  of  the  earthen  fortifications  and  mounds  demonstrate 
the  former  existence  of  populous  nations,  capable  of  executing 
works  of  enormous  dimensions,  requiring  perseverance,  time 
and  combination  of  labor  for  their  erection. 

A  detail  of  these  vestiges  of  that  vast  population,  which  once 
occupied  the  richest  agricultural  portion  of  our  country,  though 
minute  and  circumstantial,  cannot  be  devoid  of  interest ;  and  in 


22  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

any  event  these  relics  demand  attention,  as  the  monuments  of 
an  ancient  and  perhaps  enlightened  species  of  the  human  race, 
whence,  in  the  absence  of  clearer  testimony,  we  must  endeavor 
to  gather  materials  for  their  history. 

The  first  class  of  these  antiquities  is  composed  of  articles  of 
mechanical  workmanship,  which  have  most  frequently  been 
discovered  within  the  graves,  mounds,  and  mural  remains ;  and 
of  other  objects,  of  a  miscellaneous  character.  The  art  of  pottery 
is  one  of  very  early  invention,  as  fragments  of  earthenware  are 
found  among  the  oldest  ruins  of  the  world.  Its  productions, 
though  fragile,  have  withstood  the  effects  of  time  more  durably 
than  the  most  massive  structures,  and  specimens  still  exist  entire, 
coeval  in  date  with  the  remotest  periods  of  civilization.  Those 
found  in  the  United  States,  of  ancient  construction,  are  of  differ 
ent  qualities  and  dimensions — some,  by  estimate  from  fragments, 
having  been  of  large  capacity.*  The  chalk  banks  below  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio  river  have  contained  several  of  great  merit 
in  execution,  and  a  pitcher,  which  has  been  discovered  there,  is 
said  to  resemble  the  Scyphus  of  the  ancients.f  Its  model  was 
the  bottle-gourd ;  the  neck  is  moulded  in  imitation  of  that  of  a 
woman  with  clubbed  hair ;  the  outlet  resembles  a  distorted 
human  mouth;  and  the  whole  vessel,  though  formed  by  the 
hand,  is  modelled  with  great  nicety  and  precision.! 

An  earthen  vessel  found  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  twenty 
feet  below  the  surface,  is  described  as  being  circular,  with  a  flat 
bottom  rounding  upwards,  and  terminating  at  the  summit  in 
the  figure  of  a  female  head.  The  features  of  the  face  are 

*  Flint's  Recollections,  p.  166.  f  Ibid,  pp.  173,  174. 

|  Archseologia  Americana,  vol.  i.  p.  214. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  23 

Asiatic,  the  head  is  covered  by  a  conical  cap,  and  the  ears  are 
large,  extending  as  low  as  the  chin.  The  most  curious  speci 
men  of  pottery  is  that  denominated  the  Triune-vessel,  which 
was  disinterred  from  the  earth,  near  an  ancient  work  upon  the 
Cumberland  river.*  It  consists  of  three  heads,  joined  together  at 
the  back,  near  the  top,  by  a  hollow  stem  or  bottle.  The  heads 
are  of  the  same  dimensions,  and  represent  very  accurately  three 
different  countenances,  two  appearing  young  and  the  other  old. 
The  faces  are  partly  painted  with  red  and  yellow,  the  colors 
still  preserving  great  brilliancy.  The  features  are  distinguished 
by  thick  lips,  high  cheek-bones,  the  absence  of  a  beard,  and 
the  pointed  shape  of  the  head.  An  idolf  discovered  in  a  tumulus 
at  Nashville  presents  the  figure  of  a  man  without  arms,  and  the 
nose  and  chin  mutilated.  The  head  is  covered  with  a  fillet  and 
cake,  and  the  hair  is  plaited : — The  composition  is  of  fine  clay 
mixed  with  gypsum.  Colored  medalsj  representing  the  sun 
with  its  rays,  other  idols  of  various  forms,  and  urns  containing 
calcined  human  bones,  some  modelled  after  the  most  elegant 
and  graceful  patterns,  have  been  found  in  the  mounds.  The 
fragments  of  earthenware,  discovered  at  great  depths  near  the 
western  salt-works,  are  often  of  immense  size.  A  large  vessel, 
of  coarse  description,  has  been  found  there,  eighty  feet  below 
the  surface,  of  capacity  to  hold  -ten  gallons ;  while  others  have 
been  excavated  at  greater  depths,  and  of  larger  dimensions. 
Within  a  mound  lately  opened  at  Lancaster,  in  Ohio,  upon  a 
furnace  disposed  at  the  level  of  the  earth,  there  rested  the  largest 
ancient  vessel  yet  discovered.  It  was  eighteen  feet  long,  six 

*  Archseologia  Americana,  vol.  i.  p.  238. 
t  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  211.  J  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  243. 


24  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

broad,  composed  of  clay  .and  broken  shells,  and  moulded  on 
both  sides  with  much  smoothness.* 

These  articles  of  pottery  vary  much  in  their  structure.  The 
material  is  either  simply  clay — that  substance  united  with  pul 
verized  sandstone  or  calcareous  matter — or  a  composition,  as 
well  calculated,  as  our  chemical  vessels,  to  encounter  a  high 
degree  of  heat,  and  formed  upon  scientific  principles.!  Some 
of  them  appear  to  have  been  painted  before  burning,  are  skil 
fully  wrought  and  polished,  well  glazed  and  burned,  and  are 
inferior  to  our  own  manufactures  in  no  respect.  There  exist 
other  specimens,  of  ancient  origin,  corroborating  this  view  of 
the  chemical  knowledge  of  their  authors.  At  Hamburg,  in  the 
state  of  New  York,  within  an  urn  in  the  interior  of  a  mound, 
curious  beads  have  been  found  deposited,  consisting  of  transpa 
rent  green  glass,  covered  with  an  opaque  red  enamel,  beneath 
which  and  in  the  tube  of  the  bead  was  a  beautiful  white  enamel, 
indicative  of  great  art  in  its  formation-!  On  opening  an  old 
grave  at  Big  River,  in  the  state  of  Missouri,  whose  antiquity 
was  sufficiently  attested  by  a  heavy  growth  of  forest  trees  over 
the  spot,  beads  of  similar  shape,  appearance  and  composition 
have  also  been  brought  to  light.§ 

The  bricks  discovered  in  the  mounds  appear  to  have  been 
formed  after  the  modern  method,  and  are  well  burnt;  those 
found  in  the  ancient  fortifications  are  of  similar  construction  and 
appearance,  with  the  exception  of  possessing  a  lighter  color. 

*  Trans.  Fairfield  Co.  Med.  Soc. 
f  Schoolcraft's  Mississippi,  p.  202. 

|  Schoolcraft's  View  of  the  Mines  and  Minerals  of  the  West,  &c. 
p.  280. 

§  Ibid.  pp.  169,  283.— Beck's  Gazetteer,  p.  261. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  25 

The  art  of  working  in  stone,  and  other  hard  substances,  was 
carried  to  a  considerable  degree  of  perfection  by  this  people ; 
and  beads  of  bone  and  shell,  carved  bones,  and  hewn  and 
sculptured  stones  are  by  no  means  rare.     Their  weapons  and 
implements  were  often  formed  from  the  oldest  and  hardest  of 
rocks ;  and  arrow-heads,  axes  and  hatchets  of  granite,  and  horn 
blende,  nicely  cut  and  polished,  are  of  frequent  occurrence. 
The  covers  of  some  of  the  urns  are  composed  of  calcareous 
breccia,  skilfully  wrought  ;*  the  pieces  of  stone  worn  as  orna 
ments,  and  found  interred  with  the  dead,  have  been  drilled  and 
worked  into  precise  shapes,  and  the  pipe-bowls  are  adorned 
with  beautifully  carved  reliefs.f     An  idol  of  stone,  representing 
the  human  features,  has  been  found  at  Natchez,  the  sculptured 
head  and  beak  of  a  rapacious  bird  in  a  mound  at  Cincinnati, 
and  an  owl  carved  in  stone  at  Columbus,  Ohio.     The  most  sin 
gular  of  these  sculptures  has  been  discovered  on  the  banks  of  the 
Mississippi,  near  St.  Louis.     This  is  a  tabular  mass  of  limestone 
bearing  the  impression  of  two  human  feet.     The  rock  is  a  com 
pact  limestone  of  grayish-blue  color,  containing  the  encrinite, 
echinite,  and  other  fossils.    The  feet  are  quite  flattened,  but  the 
muscular  marks  are  delineated  with  great  precision.     Immedi 
ately  before  the  feet  lies  a  scroll,  sculptured  in  a  similar  style.J 
The  opinion  sometimes  entertained,  that  these  are  actual 
impressions  of  the  human  feet,  made  upon  a  soft  substance 
subsequently  indurated,  is   incorrect;    on  the  contrary,  they 
are  undoubtedly  the  result  of  art,  and  exhibit  an  extraordi- 

/ 

*  Archaeologia  Americana,  vol.  i.  p.  227. 
t  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  230.  {  Schoolcraft. 

4 


26  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

nary  analogy  with  similar  appearances  in  Asia  and  in  Central 
America.* 

Ancient  inscriptions  upon  rocks  have  also  been  observed. 
Dr.  Barton  examined  some,  on  a  large  stratum  of  rock  upon  the 
east  shore  of  the  Ohio,  about  fifty  miles  below  Pittsburg,  and 
found  them  in  great  numbers,  and  apparently  "  the  work  of  a 
people  acquainted  with  the  use  of  iron  instruments,  or  with 
hardened  metallic  instruments  of  some  kind."f 

Upon  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Tennessee  river  are  per 
pendicular  rocks,  on  which,  more  than  one  hundred  feet  above 
the  present  high-water  mark,  are  representations  of  beasts>  birds, 
and  other  figures.  J 

Near  the  confluence  of  the  Elk  and  Kenhawa  rivers,  in  the 
western  part  of  Virginia,  Bishop  Madison  observed  some  re 
markable  remains  of  sculpture.  Upon  the  surface  of  a  rock  of 
freestone  lying  on  the  margin  of  the  river,  about  twelve  feet  in 
length  and  nine  in  breadth,  he  saw  the  outlines  of  several  figures, 
cut  without  relief,  except  in  one  instance,  and  somewhat  larger 
than  the  life.  The  depth  of  the  outline  was  about  half  an  inch, 
and  its  width  three  quarters,  nearly,  in  some  places.  "  In  one 
line,  ascending  from  the  part  of  the  rock  nearest  the  river,  there 
is  a  tortoise ;  a  spread  eagle  executed  with  great  expression, 
particularly  the  head,  to  which  is  given  a  shallow  relief;  and  a 
child,  the  outline  of  which  is  very  well  drawn.  In  a  parallel 
line  there  are  other  figures,  but  among  them  that  of  a  woman 
only  can  be  traced  :  these  are  very  indistinct.  Upon  the  side 

*  It  is  asserted  that  similar  sculptures  have  been  found  elsewhere 
in  Missouri. — N.  Am.  Review. 

t  Trans.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  vol.  iv.  p.  195.  t  Ib.  vol.  iii.  p.  219. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  27 

of  the  rock  there  are  two  awkward  figures  which  particularly 
caught  my  attention.  One  is  that  of  a  man,  with  his  arms 
uplifted  and  hands  spread  out,  as  if  engaged  in  prayer.  His 
head  is  made  to  terminate  in  a  point,  or  rather  he  has  the 
appearance  of  something  upon  the  head  of  a  triangular  or  coni 
cal  form :  near  to  him  is  another  singular  figure,  suspended  by 
a  cord  fastened  to  his  heels."  "A  turkey,  badly  executed,  with 
a  few  other  figures,  may  also  be  seen.  The  labor  and  the  per 
severance  requisite  to  cut  those  rude  figures  in  a  rock,  so  hard 
that  steel  appeared  to  make  but  little  impression  upon  it,  must 
have  been  great,  much  more  so  than  making  of  enclosures  in  a 
loose  and  fertile  soil."* 

Many  metallic  remains  have  also  been  discovered  among 
the  ancient  ruins,  some  quite  perfect,  and  others  in  a  state  of 
decomposition.  Copper  appears  to  have  been  in  the  most  gen 
eral  use.  It  has  been  found  in  the  mounds,  either  in  irregular 
masses  or  worked  into  various  forms,  and  sometimes  plated 
with  silver.  Arrow-heads,  bracelets,  circular  plates  or  medals, 
beads,  a  cross,  and  pipe-bowls,  all  composed  of  this  metal,  have 
been  disinterred  from  the  tumuli.f 

!0ne  of  the  ancient  mounds  at  Marietta,  Ohio,  was  situated 
on  the  margin  of  a  stream,  which  had  gradually  washed  away 
the  surrounding  soil  and  part  of  the  structure  itself,  when  a 
silver  cup  was  observed  in  the  side  of  the  mound.  Its  form  was 
extremely  simple,  and  resembled  some  of  the  earthenware  pat 
terns,  being  an  inverted  cone.  It  consisted  of  solid  silver,  its 
surfaces  were  smooth  and  regular,  and  its  interior  was  finely 
gilded.J 

*  Trans.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  vol.  vi.  pp.  141,  142. 

t  Arch.  Am.  vol.  i.  p.  224.  J  Schoolcraft's  View,  p.  276. 


28  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

In  Salem,  Washington  county,  Ohio,  it  is  said  that  ancient 
marks  of  tools  have  been  observed  upon  pieces  of  rock,  and 
that  in  one  mass  of  stone  an  iron  wedge  has  been  discovered, 
firmly  imbedded.*  Except  from  this  instance,  and  the  occa 
sional  presence  of  pieces  of  oxidized  iron  in  the  mounds,  we 
have  no  evidence  showing  directly  whether  this  valuable  metal 
was  in  use.  In  Liberty,  Washington  county,  Ohio,  are  the 
ruins  of  several  stone  furnaces,  constructed  with  hearths  of  clay, 
and  containing  pieces  of  mineral  coal  and  cinders.f  It  has  been 
thought  that  the  purpose  of  these  works  was  explained  by  their 
locality  in  a  rich  iron  region ;  but  this  is  the  only  reason  for 
conjecturing  they  were  used  in  the  manufacture  of  iron,  and 
one  manifestly  of  slight  weight.  The  wedge  of  iron  found  at 
Salem,  in  the  same  county,  was  probably  not  of  ancient  origin ; 
at  least,  it  needs  very  accurate  and  close  examination  before  so 
important  a  fact  can  be  admitted.  Candor  seems  to  demand, 
notwithstanding  the  exertions  made  to  establish  the  use  of  iron 
among  the  authors  of  the  mounds  and  fortifications,  that  the 
supposition  is  supported  by  no  positive  testimony,  and  by  little 
that  is  even  reasonably  conjectural ;  while  at  the  same  time  we 
should  be  careful,  in  deciding  so  interesting  a  question,  to  bear 
in  mind  that  the  perishable  nature  of  this  metal,  when  exposed 
to  the  atmosphere  or  moisture,  would  probably  have  destroyed 
all  vestiges  of  its  use  at  the  distant  period  when  the  mounds 
were  erected. 

Circumstances  favor  the  idea,  that  the  authors  of  the  western 
antiquities  were  in  the  habit  of  working  many  of  the  salt  springs, 
for  the  manufacture  of  that  article.!  At  the  state  salt-works  in 

*  Delafield's  Topographical  Description,  p.  28. 

t  Ib.  p.  28.  j  Van  Rensselaer's  Essay. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  29 

Illinois  occurs  a  large  excavation,  four  hundred  feet  in  circumfer 
ence,  in  which  a  deep  well  has  formerly  been  sunk.  In  digging 
at  this  place,  ashes,  and  fragments  of  pottery  were  discovered 
in  great  abundance ;  and  a  drain  has  been  found,  so  connected 
with  the  works,  as  to  justify  the  inference  of  its  being  intended 
to  carry  away  the  surplus  water.  The  earthenware  found  here 
is  at  vast  depths  below  the  surface,  and  it  resembles  in  com 
position  the  specimens  occurring  in  the  ancient  mounds.  At 
Harrisonville,  in  St.  Clair  county,  and  near  the  Ohio  saline,  the 
presence  of  broken  pottery  and  other  appearances  authorize 
similar  conclusions ;  particularly  the  shape  of  the  vessels, 
which  may  very  well  have  served  as  evaporators.* 

The  antiquities  discovered  in  the  western  caves  are  of  a 
remarkable  character,  and  have  excited  much  speculation. 
They  cannot  be  ascribed  to  the  present  tribes  of  Indians,  in  con 
sequence  of  the  very  general  reverence  in  which  caverns  are 
held  by  them.  They  view  them  with  deeply  superstitious  feel 
ings,  esteeming  them  as  the  residence  of  the  Great  Spirit,  and 
never  appearing  there  for  any  other  purpose,  than  for  the  occa 
sional  celebration  of  solemn,  religious  festivals.!  In  the  saltpetre 
caves  of  Gasconade  county,  Missouri,  axes,  hammers  and  other 
implements  have  been  found,  which  are  probably  of  identical 
origin  with  some  ancient  works  in  the  vicinity.  Below  the 
falls  of  St.  Anthony  is  another  cavern,  distinguished  for  its 
great  length,  and  called,  in  the  Indian  language,  "  The  dwell 
ing  of  the  Great  Spirit."  The  walls  are  composed  of  a  soft 
stone,  easily  yielding  to  the  knife,  and  they  contain  many  hie- 

*  Beck's  Gazetteer,  pp.  68,  118. 

f  Ib.  pp.  43,  98,  234.— Carver's  Travel's,  p.  48. 


30  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

roglyphical  figures,  so  covered  with  moss  and  defaced  by  time, 
as  to  be  traced  with  great  difficulty.* 

Within  the  saltpetre  cave  in  Warren  county,  Tennessee,  two 
bodies  have  been  discovered,  interred  in  a  sitting  posture  in 
baskets  made  of  cane,  the  hip  joints  dislocated,  and  the  legs 
brought  up  close  to  the  body.  One  of  them  was  a  male  and 
the  other  a  female.  Great  care  had  manifestly  been  taken  to 
secure  them  a  durable  preservation,  and  at  the  period  of  discov 
ery  the  flesh,  teeth,  hair  and  nails  were  still  entire.  They  were 
enveloped  in  dressed  deer-skins,  and  in  a  species  of  cloth,  of 
firm  texture,  woven  from  the  fibres  of  the  nettle,  or  from  bark, 
and  overlaid  with  the  most  brilliant  feathers  of  various  hues, 
symmetrically  arranged ;  another  covering,  of  undressed  deer 
skin,  succeeded,  and  the  exterior  wrapper  was  cloth  of  the  same 
kind,  but  unornamented.  The  female  had  a  fan  in  her  hand, 
composed  of  turkey  feathers  so  disposed,  that  it  might  be  opened 
and  closed.f 

Human  bodies  have  been  discovered  near  the  Cumberland 
river,  in  the  same  state ;  in  the  nitrous  caves  near  Glasgow, 
and  in  the  Mammoth  Cave,  in  Kentucky ;  all  placed  in  the 
same  sitting  position,  clothed  in  skins  and  cloths  of  various 
textures,  inlaid  with  feathers — the  bodies  remaining  in  a  high 
state  of  preservation,  and  the  hair  generally  of  a  color  varying 
from  brown  to  yellow  and  red.J  This  last  peculiarity  has  given 
rise  to  many  fanciful  conjectures  concerning  the  race  to  which 


*  Carver's  Travels,  p.  48. 

t  Hayward's  Tennessee,  vol.  ii.  p.  163. — Flint's  Recollections,  p. 
173. — Archseologia  Americana,  vol.  i.  p.  303. 
J  Medical  Repository,  vol.  xv,  p.  187. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  31 

the  skeletons  may  be  ascribed.*  Within  the  same  caves  many 
other  miscellaneous  articles  have  been  found,  far  below  the 
surface, — such  as  bows  and  arrows,  earthenware,  fishing  nets, 
cloths,  mats,  cane  baskets,  beads,  wooden  cups,  moccasons  of 
bark,  various  utensils  and  relics  indicative  of  the  character  of 
the  deceased  with  whom  they  were  buried ;  and,  more  singular 
still,  the  bones  of  the  peccari  or  Mexican  hog,  an  animal  not 
indigenous  to  the  United  States,  but  belonging  to  the  more 
southern  climates.  In  general,  these  caves  have  been  great 
cemeteries  of  the  dead,  for  bodies  are  being  continually  disin 
terred  from  the  earth  within  them,  and  more  than  a  hundred 
human  skulls  have  been  counted  in  one  cave,  within  a  space  of 
twenty  feet  square.f 

With  regard  to  the  color  of  the  hair  observed  upon  these 
bodies,  it  has  been  unreasonably  considered,  as  sustaining  the 
theory  of  the  European  origin  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  the 
west.  The  probabilities  are,  however,  that  its  original  hue 
was  black,  and  that  the  change  to  its  present  appearance  is 
owing  to  the  chemical  action  of  the  saltpetrous  earth  in  which 
the  bodies  were  deposited.!  In  corroboration  of  this  view,  some 
human  remains  found  in  Peruvian  sepulchres  may  be  referred 
to  :  several  of  these  tombs  examined  in  1790,  by  the  Spaniards, 
contained  bodies  in  an  entire  condition,  but  withered  and  dried, 
and  the  hair  of  a  red  color.  From  their  position  and  other 
accompanying  circumstances,  they  were  undoubtedly  the  re- 

*  Archseologia  Americana,  vol.  i.  p.  304. 

f  Silliman's  Journal,  vol.  i.  p.  622. 

J  A  similar  phenomenon  has  sometimes  been  observed  in  the 
appearance  of  the  Egyptian  mummies,  the  hair  having  been  changed 
in  color,  from  black  to  red. —  Wilkinson's  Egypt,  p.  370. 


32  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

mains  of  the  Peruvian  Indians,  the  change  in  the  hair  having 
probably  arisen  from  the  character  of  the  soil,  it  being  strongly 
impregnated  with  saline  matter.* 

The  graves  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  appear  usually  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  earthen  remains  and  mounds,  and  when  they  are 
not  within  tumuli,  frequently  consist  of  a  rude  species  of  stone 
coffin,  in  which  the  deceased  has  been  interred  in  a  sitting  pos 
ture.  Such  are  the  graves  in  Missouri,  upon  the  Merrimack 
river,  concerning  which  so  much  speculation  has  been  indulged.f 
They  were  a  short  distance  from  several  mounds,  and  a  ruined 
earthen  rampart.  The  coffins  were  formed  of  six  pieces  of  flat 
stone,  were  from  twenty-three  to  fifty  inches  in  length,  and 
situated  upon  small  hillocks.  The  skeletons  were  mostly  de 
cayed,  or  in  such  fragments  as  to  render  it  somewhat  difficult 
to  ascertain  their  size  and  position.  In  one  instance,  however, 
the  leg  bones  were  found  lying  parallel  with  the  thigh,  a  cir 
cumstance  explaining  the  diminutive  size  of  the  graves.  Simi 
lar  graves  have  been  opened  and  examined,  in  Tennessee,  and 
in  other  parts  of  the  western  country ,J  all  indicating  that  the 
body  has  not  been  disposed  lengthwise,  but  placed  with  the 
legs  drawn  together  close  to  the  body,  so  as  to  occupy  a  very 
small  compass.  Nothing  further  need  be  said  in  relation  to  the 
idea  of  the  Lilliputian  stature  of  the  ancient  inhabitants.  Other 
tombs  have  disclosed  bones,  which,  from  their  size,  have  sug 
gested  the  belief  in  a  former  race  of  giants — an  opinion  equally 
unfounded  with  the  one  just  referred  to,  which  it  so  strongly 
contradicts.§ 

Numerous  other  articles  have  been  discovered  in  the  prose- 

*  MS.  Travels.  f  Beck's  Gazetteer,  p.  274. 

t  Scientific  Tracts,  vol.  iii.  p.  157.     §  Beck's  Gazetteer,  p.  261. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  33 

cution  of  antiquarian  researches  in  the  regions  of  the  west,  but 
they  afford  no  additional  light  concerning  the  state  of  the  arts, 
or  the  customs,  of  those  extinct  nations  from  whom  they  have 
proceeded. 


34  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 


CHAPTER   III. 

ANCIENT   REMAINS   IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

THE  second  class  of  Antiquities  in  the  United  States,  proceed 
ing  from  the  same  ancient  people,  exhibits,  in  an  extended  view, 
decisive  proof  of  the  immense  numbers  and  advanced  social 
condition  of  their  authors.  It  comprehends  the  Mural  Remains, 
or  enclosures — formed  by  earthen  embankments  and  trenches ; 
which  appear  most  numerously  in  the  district  bordering  upon 
the  Mississippi  and  its  branches,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  the  great 
lakes  and  their  tributaries ;  though  they  may  be  found  stretching 
at  intervals  from  New-York  to  Florida,  and  from  the  Territory 
west  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Alleghanies.  A  detail  of  some 
of  the  most  remarkable  ruins  of  this  character,  though  exposed 
to  a  charge  of  tediousness,  is  highly  important  in  developing  a 
just  and  correct  idea  of  the  power  and  population  of  the  former 
inhabitants  of  our  country. 

The  first  work  of  this  description  meriting  attention  in  the 
state  of  New- York,  is  one  formerly  existing  on  the  Genessee 
river,  which  enclosed  an  area  of  about  six  acres.  It  was  sur 
rounded  on  three  sides  by  a  ditch  running  in  a  circular  direction, 
which  was  intersected  by  six  entrances ;  on  the  other  quarter  a 
high  bank  formed  a  natural  defence,  through  which  a  covered 
way  led  down  to  a  neighboring  stream.  At  a  short  distance  to 
the  south  were  similar  works  defended  by  a  deeper  fosse,  and 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  35 

disposed  upon  a  more  eminent  and  inaccessible  situation,  com 
bining  artificial  with  natural  advantages.* 

On  the  river  Tonawande  there  was  a  place  distinguished  in 
the  Seneca  tongue  by  a  word  signifying  "  the  double  fortified 
town,"  or  "  a  town  with  a  fort  at  each  end."  These  forts  were 
separated  by  an  interval  of  two  miles  ;  the  one  containing  about 
four,  and  the  other  eight  acres  of  land.  The  ditch  encompassing 
a  part  of  the  former  was  six  feet  deep, — a  stream  and  a  high 
bank,  bisected  by  a  covered  way  to  the  water,  defending  the 
remaining  portion.  The  northern  fortification  was  on  elevated 
ground,  and  in  proximity  to  it  was  a  sepulchral  mound,  six 
feet  in  height,  twenty-five  feet  in  diameter,  and  containing 
bones,  which  appeared  projecting  in  many  places  from  its  sur 
face.  The  remains  of  another  fortified  town,  containing  more 
than  jfae  hundred  acres,  formerly  existed  in  Pompey,  Onondaga 
county :  three  circular  or  elliptical  forts,  disposed  in  a  triangle, 
and  distant  from  each  other  about  eight  miles,  were  its  out- 
works.f  At  Camillus,  in  the  same  county,  there  were  a  few 
years  since  two  elliptical  forts,  with  gates,  and  with  covered 
ways  to  the  adjacent  water.  Another  formerly  stood  upon  the 
Seneca  river,  which  was  in  the  form  of  a  parallelogram,  two 
hundred  and  twenty  yards  in  length,  and  fifty-five  in  breadth, 
with  gates  opening  on  either  side,  towards  the  river,  and  to  the 
country.  In  its  vicinity  was  a  mound  or  elevation  in  the  shape 
of  a  crescent,  with  its  extremities  turned  towards  the  fort.J 
At  least  a  hundred  of  these  fortifications  have  been  perceived 
in  this  state,  stretching  from  the  Delaware,  through  the  region 

*  Kirkland's  MSS.,  cited  in  Yates  and  Moulton's  Hist,  of  New- 
York,  vol.  i.  p.  16. 

f  Clinton's  Memoir.  t  New- York  Magazine,  1792. 


36  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

occupied  by  the  small  lakes,  to  the  ancient  shores  of  lakes  Onta 
rio  and  Erie.  They  are  mostly  of  regular  forms, — oblong,  cir 
cular,  triangular,  or  elliptical, — generally  overgrown  with  large 
forest  trees,  and  placed  near  streams  or  other  bodies  of  water. 
With  one  doubtful  exception,  none  have  been  found  between 
the  ancient  beaches  of  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario  and  their  present 
shores,  though  many  of  them  run  parallel  with  the  former  line 
of  the  lakes, — a  circumstance  favoring  the  idea  of  their  high 
antiquity.*  On  the  south  side  of  lake  Erie  there  is  a  series  of 
these  fortifications  or  enclosures  extending,  at  intervals  of  a  few 
miles,  as  far  as  the  Pennsylvania  boundary  line ;  nor  do  they 
terminate  there,  but  in  that  state  also  they  occur  in  great  num 
bers,  to  the  westward  of  the  Alleghany  ridge,  and  are  of  a 
similar  character  with  those  just  described,  possessing  no  marks 
of  peculiar  difference.! 

In  the  western  part  of  Virginia,  these  traces  of  the  ancients 
may  also  be  observed,  particularly  in  that  region  which  borders 
on  the  tributaries  of  the  Ohio,  and  upon  the  low  grounds  of  the 
Elk,  Guyandot  and  Kenhawa  rivers.J  Near  Wheeling  there 
are  appearances  of  fortifications  or  enclosures,  commencing  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  mounds  upon  Grave  creek,  and  continuing  at 
intermediate  distances  for  ten  or  twelve  miles  along  the  banks 
of  the  Ohio.§  They  consist  of  square  and  circular  entrenchments 
communicating  with  each  other,  of  ditches,  walls  and  mounds, 
and  a  broad  causeway  leading  from  the  largest  enclosure  to 
wards  the  neighboring  hills.|| 

*  Clinton's  Memoir  on  the  Antiquities  of  the  Western  part  of 
New-York.  f  Arch.  Amer.,  vol.  i.  p.  309. 

J  Trans.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.,  vol.  vi.  p.  134.        §  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  215. 
||  Silliman's  Journal,  vol.  vi.  p.  166. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  37 

Passing  further  to  the  south  and  into  the  state  of  Georgia, 
upon  the  banks  of  Little  river,  a  branch  of  the  Savannah,  not  far 
from  the  town  of  Wrightsborough,  "many  very  magnificent 
monuments  of  the  power  and  industry  of  the  ancient  inhabit 
ants  "  have  been  remarked  by  an  intelligent  traveller.*  They 
consist  of  a  stupendous  conical  pyramid,  vast  tetragon  terraces, 
and  a  large  sunken  or  excavated  area  of  a  cubical  form,  encom 
passed  with  banks  of  earth,  and  also  traces  of  an  extensive 
town. 

Upon  the  east  bank  of  the  Ocmulgee  river,  eighty  miles 
above  its  confluence  with  the  Oconee,  upon  the  heights  of  the 
low  grounds,  are  vestiges  of  an  ancient  town,  such  as  artificial 
mounts  or  terraces,  squares,  and  embankments  encircling  consi 
derable  areas. 

On  the  west  bank  of  the  Altamaha,  nearly  opposite  to  Da- 
rien,f  are  the  remains  of  an  ancient  earthen  structure.  It  is  a 
regular  tetragon  terrace  four  feet  high,  with  bastions  at  each 
angle,  and  surrounded  with  a  ditch  enclosing  about  an  acre  of 
ground. 

On  the  Savannah  river,  just  above  Petersburgh,  upon  a  level 
plain  near  the  bank  of  the  river,  are  other  ruins,  consisting  of 
several  mounds  and  four  square  terraces.J  The  largest  mound 
is  conical,  fifty  feet  high,  eight  hundred  feet  in  circumference  at 
the  base,  and  its  summit  is  truncated.  A  spiral  path  leads  to 
the  top,  and  there  are  four  niches  excavated  out  of  the  sides,  at 
different  heights,  and  fronting  the  cardinal  points.  Several 
mounds  of  inferior  dimensions  are  disposed  around  it,  and  also 

*  Bartram's  Travels,  p.  37.  f  Ibid.  p.  52. 

I  Ibid.  p.  323. 


38  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

some  terraces,  three  hundred  feet  square  and  from  six  to  ten  feet 

high* 

On  the  Chattahooche,  upon  a  peninsula  formed  by  the 
doubling  of  the  river,  there  are  mounds  and  enormous  quadran 
gular  terraces ;  in  front  of  one  of  the  latter  is  an  extensive  square 
enclosure  surrounded  with  an  earthen  wall.f 

Upon  the  Etowah  river  is  an  excavation  which  sweeps  in 
a  large  section  of  land,  by  bending  towards  the  water  in  the 
form  of  a  semi-circle ;  there  are  no  embankments,  and  the  en 
trances  to  the  interior  are  made  by  interruptions  of  the  exca 
vated  ditch,  at  certain  regular  intervals.J 

Many  other  groups  of  similar  ruins  occur  in  this  state  and 
in  Alabama,  and  they  seem  to  present  a  continuation  of  those 
existing  in  Florida,  connecting  them,  in  a  northerly  course, 
with  the  ancient  remains  in  Tennessee  and  Ohio.§ 

Florida  abounds  in  these  relics  of  antiquity.  Near  Lake 
George  formerly  stood  a  large  mound ;  and  in  its  vicinity  were 
fields  appearing  to  have  been  anciently  cultivated,  and  also  oak, 
palm,  and  orange  groves.  From  this  mound,  two  parallel 
walls,  fifty  yards  asunder,  led  in  a  straight  line  to  the  verge  of 
an  oblong  artificial  lake  distant  three  quarters  of  a  mile.|| 

Upon  one  of  the  islands  of  Lake  George,  are  the  remains  of 

*  Bartram's  Travels,  p.  31.  f  Ibid.  p.  388. 

%  Silliman's  Journal,  vol.  i.  p.  322. 

§  "  I  was  informed,  by  a  gentleman  in  Tennessee,  of  the  existence 
of  a  singular  and  antique  stone  fort  on  the  summit  of  a  mountain,  in 
Franklin  county,  Alabama,  near  Little  Bear  Creek,  a  tributary  of 
Tennessee  river — but  have  never  read  any  notice  of  it." — Latrobe's 
Ramb.  in  N.  Amer.,  vol.  ii.  p.  179. 

||  Bartram's  Travels,  p.  97. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  39 

a  large  town  and  a  pyramidal  mound,  from  which  there  pro 
ceeds  in  a  straight  line  to  a  large,  green,  level  savanna,  a  high 
way,  formed  of  parallel  walls  resembling  those  just  described ; 
fragments  of  earthenware,  bones,  and  other  remains  abound  in 
the  neighborhood.*  Near  New  Smyrna  similar  remains  have 
been  observed  ;f  and  monuments  of  the  same  character,  often 
connected  with  artificial  ponds  or  lakes,  are  to  be  perceived 
from  the  river  St.  John  to  the  southern  coast  of  Florida,{  in 
great  numbers  and  of  various  dimensions, — exhibiting,  by  their 
frequency  and  extent,  all  the  signs  of  having  been  constructed 
by  a  populous  nation. 

Having  thus  rapidly  traversed  the  eastern  boundary  line  of 
these  earthen  structures,  upon  turning  to  the  west  we  find  them 
in  greater  numbers,  and  of  a  more  extraordinary  character. 
Near  Salem,  Ashtabula  county,  Ohio,  about  three  miles  from 
Lake  Erie,  upon  the  Coneaught  river,  is  an  enclosure  situated 
upon  a  hill,  and  surrounded  with  two  concentric  circular  walls, 
a  ditch  intervening  between  them.§  There  is  but  one  gate 
way,  and  from  this  a  road  leads  to  the  water ;  within  the  walls, 
earthenware  and  skeletons  were  found,  and  the  whole  place  is 
covered  with  a  thick  growth  of  trees. 

At  Marietta,  within  the  city  limits,  some  years  since,  there 
were  two  large,  oblong  enclosures,  and  a  conical  mound ;  the 
largest  of  the  enclosures  contained  forty,  and  the  other  twenty 
acres  of  ground.||  They  were  encompassed  by  ramparts  of 
earth,  from  six  to  ten  feet  high,  and  thirty  feet  in  breadth  at 
the  base,  and  on  each  side  were  three  gateways,  at  equal 

*  Bartram's  Travels,  p.  101.  t  Ihid.  p.  142. 

J  Ibid.  p.  519.  §  Arch.  Amer.  vol.  i.  p.  124. 

||  Description  of  the  Ohio  River.— Harris's  Tour,  p.  149. 


40  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

distances  apart.  A  sort  of  covert  way,  formed  of  two  parallel 
walls,  two  hundred  and  thirty-one  feet  apart,  defended  the 
approach  to  the  Muskingum;  the  walls  were  forty-two  feet 
wide  at  the  base,  twenty-one  feet  high  within,  and  five  feet 
high  on  the  outer  sides.  A  line  of  smaller  parallel  walls  leads 
down  to  the  water  from  the  corner  of  the  fortification.  Within 
the  area  enclosed,  at  the  north-west  corner,  was  an  oblong  ter 
race,  nine  feet  high ;  at  the  middle  of  each  of  its  sides  the  earth 
was  projected,  forming  gradual  ascents  to  the  top,  ten  feet  in 
width.  Near  the  south  wall  was  another  terrace,  nearly  simi 
lar  ;  at  the  south-east  corner  was  another ;  about  the  middle 
was  a  circular  elevation ;  and  at  the  south-west  corner  was  a 
semicircular  parapet,  covered  with  a  mound,  which  guarded  the 
gateway  or  entrance  in  that  quarter. 

The  other  enclosure  had  a  gateway  in  the  middle  of  each 
side,  and  at  the  corners  was  defended  by  circular  mounds.  A 
short  distance  from  its  south-east  side  was  a  conical  mound,  one 
hundred  and  fifteen  feet  in  diameter,  thirty  feet  high,  and  sur 
rounded  by  a  ditch  and  embankment,  through  which  there  was 
a  gateway  opening  towards  the  fortification.  The  mound  was 
protected  in  addition  by  outworks,  and  parapets,  and-  other 
mounds.  There  were  also  found  here  excavations, — originally 
of  great  size  and  depth, — still  perceptible ;  which  were  probably 
wells,  and  supplied  the  inhabitants  with  water.  Upon  a  branch 
of  the  same  river,  ninety  miles  from  Marietta,  a  series  of  works, 
consisting  of  entrenchments  and  mounds,  extended  about  two 
miles  in  length,  and  the  ramparts  and  mounds  were  of  much 
greater  height  than  those  at  Marietta.* 

Near  Newark,  in  Licking  county,  another  extensive  succes- 

*  Description  of  the  Ohio  River,  p.  19. — Colum.  Mag.,  May,  1787. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  41 

sion  of  fortifications  existed.     Commencing  upon  the  westerly 
side,  there  was  a  round  fort  containing  twenty-two  acres,  on 
one  side  of  which  stood  an  elevated  observatory,  constructed 
partly  of  earth,   and   partly  of  stone,   beneath  which   there 
appears  to  have  been  a  secret  passage-way  to  a  neighboring 
stream  upon  the  opposite  side.     This  circular  fort  was  connect 
ed,  by  two  parallel  walls  of  earth,  with  an  octagonal  fort  con 
taining  forty  acres.     The  walls  of  the  latter  were  ten  feet  high, 
and  were  cut  by  eight  gateways,  each  of  which  was  defended 
by  a  small  mound  of  earth,  or  curtain,  on  the  inside.     Thence, 
on  the  one  hand,  parallel  walls  proceeded  to  the  water;  on  the 
other,  towards  the  interior  of  the  country,  to  the  distance  of 
several  miles ;  and  in  the  middle,  others  ranged  easterly,  con 
necting  the  works  just  described  with  the  following : — A  square 
fort  containing  twenty  acres,  connected  towards  the  south,  by 
parallel  walls,  with  a  circular  fort  of  twenty-six  acres,  encom 
passed  by  an  embankment  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  feet  high ; 
and  towards  the  north,  by  two  covered  ways,  with  the  neigh 
boring  stream.     At  the  extremity  of  these  covered  ways,  the 
former  margin  of  the  stream  was  defended  for  some  distance  by 
a  wall,  flanked  at  each  end  by  elevated  mounds  of  earth ;  upon 
an  elevated  plateau  to  the  north-east,  protected  likewise  by  an 
entrenchment,  stood  several  tumuli,  containing  the  remains  of 
the  dead.     From  a  careful  examination  of  the  adjacent  country, 
and  the  occurrence  of  similar  walls  at  various  intervals,  it  has- 
been   supposed   these  works  were  connected  with  others  at 
Hockhocking  river ;  thus  forming  one  continuous  line  of  de 
fence,  and  preserving  an  open  communication. 

At  Circleville,  Ohio,  there  were  two  earthen  enclosures,  one  an 
exact  circle,  and  the  other  a  precise  square,  with  its  sides  facing 

6 


42  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

the  cardinal  points,  under  no  greater  variation  than  that  of  the 
needle.*  The  square  enclosure  had  eight  entrances,  equidistant, 
and  all  defended  by  circular  mounds  within;  each  side  was 
fifty-nine  rods  in  length,  and  the  wall  ten  feet  high.  Upon  its 
west  side  it  was  immediately  connected  with  the  circular  enclo 
sure,  which  was  sixty-nine  rods  in  diameter,  and  encompassed 
by  double  walls,  twenty  feet  high,  with  a  ditch  intervening 
between  them.  In  the  centre  of  this  circle  was  a  mound,  with 
a  curious  semicircular  pavement  on  its  eastern  side ;  and  a  short 
distance  without  the  walls  stood  another  mound,  ninety  feet 
high. 

In  Warren  county,  on  the  banks  of  the  Little  Miami  river, 
and  between  two  of  its  branches,  we  find  the  summit  of  an 
elevated  plain  defended  by  walls,  from  ten  to  twenty  feet  in 
height;  their  course  is  irregular,  and  generally  corresponds 
with  the  marginal  line  of  the  hill.f  Upon  the  side  facing  the 
Miami,  three  terraces  are  cut  out  of  the  bank,  and  command 
the  passage  of  the  river.  On  the  north-easterly  side  are  two 
mounds,  connected  by  broad  parallel  roads,  or  embankments, 
with  a  third  standing  at  the  distance  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile, 
around  which  the  roads  make  a  detour,  and  then  meet.  These 
works  are  constructed  of  earth,  and  have  fifty-eight  openings, 
or  gateways. 

At  Paint  Creek,  a  short  distance  from  Chillicothe,  in  the  same 
state,  were  two  series  of  ruins,  on  opposite  sides  of  the  stream. { 
That  on  the  north  side  was  protected  by  a  square  and  by  a  cir 
cular  fort,  and  contained  seventy-seven  acres.  Both  without  and 
within  this  area  were  several  mounds,  and  also  four  large'wells, 

*  Arch.  Amer.,  vol.  i.  p.  141.  f  Ibid.  vol.  i.p.  156. 

J  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  145. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  43 

which  still  retain  water.  Among  the  mounds  in  the  interior  were 
two  elliptical  elevations,  one  twenty-five  feet  high,  three  hun 
dred  and  thirty  feet  long,  and  one  hundred  and  seventy  feet 
broad,  constructed  of  stones,  and  containing  human  bones ;  and 
the  other  was  from  eight  to  fifteen  feet  high,  and  was  formed 
with  two  stages  or  terraces ;  the  summits  of  both  were  level. 
Another  work,  in  the  form  of  a  half-moon,  was  set  round 
the  edges  with  stones ;  while  near  it  stood  a  singular  mound, 
five  feet  high  and  thirty  in  diameter,  formed  entirely  of  red 
ochre. 

The  enclosure  on  the  south  side  of  the  stream  was  also 
irregular ;  contained  two  mounds,  one  of  them  twenty  feet  high ; 
and  was  defended  by  a  square  fort,  precisely  of  the  same  dimen 
sions  with  that  above  described. 

To  the  east  of  both  these  fortifications,  upon  a  rocky,  pre 
cipitous  hill,  a  wall  of  unhewn  stone,  enclosing  one  hundred  and 
thirty  acres,  has  been  thrown  up  around  the  edge  of  the  summit, 
with  two  gateways,  one  opening  directly  towards  the  river.  An 
immense  quantity  of  cinders  was  found  in  the  interior  of  this 
enclosure.  In  the  bed  of  the  creek,  just  below  the  hill,  are  four 
wells,  dug  through  the  rock,  and  laid  round  at  the  top  with  hewn 
stone.  Their  apertures  were  closed  with  circular  slabs,  having 
a  small  hole  through  the  centre,  and  apparently  wrought  with 
tools ;  the  stream,  it  is  thought,  has  changed  its  channel  since 
their  excavation. 

On  the  north  fork  of  Paint  Creek  are  other  works,  which 
consist  of  two  enclosures  connected  with  each  other.  The  area 
of  the  largest  is  one  hundred  and  ten  acres,  surrounded  by  a 
ditch,  and  a  wall  twelve  feet  high,  and  disposed  in  an  oblong 
form.  The  smaller  work,  on  the  east  side,  is  nearly  square, 


44  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

and  contains  sixteen  acres.  Within  the  large  enclosure  are 
two  circular  works,  encompassed  with  embankments,  one  of 
which  contains  six  sepulchral  mounds,  or  cemeteries.* 

Appearances  of  works  similar  to  those  of  Paint  Creek  were, 
at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  visible  for  nearly  sixty  miles 
along  the  Scioto,  to  its  junction  with  the  Ohio ;  opposite  which, 
on  the  Virginia  side,  were  extensive  ruins,  and  among  them  the 
remains  of  chimneys.f 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Portsmouth,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Ohio  river,  there  was  a  square  enclosure,  with  parallel  walls 
diverging  from  it  on  either  side  towards  the  river,  enclosing  a 
fine  interval  of  land ;  at  its  south-  west  corner  stood  a  large 
mound,  covering  one  quarter  of  an  acre,  and  twenty  feet  in 
height.! 

On  the  north  side  of  the  river  there  were  remains  of  a  more 
intricate  character.  They  consisted  chiefly  of  parallel  walls 
running  from  the  water,  the  distance  of  four  miles,  to  the  summit 
of  a  large  hill,  where,  after  a  detour,  they  terminated  near  four 
mounds.  Three  of  these  mounds  were  six  feet  in  height,  and 
covered  nearly  an  acre  each,  and  the  fourth  had  an  elevation  of 
twenty  feet.  In  the  vicinity  were  an  unfinished  tumulus,  and 
another  completed,  twenty-five  feet  high,  and  containing  the 
remains  of  the  dead.  At  the  brow  of  the  hill  was  a  well,  still 
twenty-five  feet  deep,  and  also  two  others  each  ten  feet  deep. 
From  the  east  side  of  this  group  of  mounds,  proceeded  parallel 
walls,  two  miles  towards  the  river,  sweeping  in  a  large  circuit 
of  the  richest  land. 

*  Ar.  Am.,  vol.  i.  p.  151.         f  Tr.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.,vol.  iii.  p.  216. 
|  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  183. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  45 

Near  Somerset,  in  Perry  county,  Ohio,  was  an  ancient  ruin, 
whose  walls,  enclosing  an  area  of  forty  acres,  were  built  with  rude 
masses  of  unhewn  stone,  at  present  lying  in  confusion,  and  but 
a  few  feet  in  height.*  One  gateway,  between  two  large  rocks, 
opened  into  the  country,  before  which  was  an  enormous  boulder 
of  rock  in  some  degree  defending  the  access.  In  the  line  of  the 
wall  stood  a  small  stone  mound,  and  towards  the  middle  of  the 
enclosure  was  another,  composed  of  the  same  materials,  of  a 
conical  shape  and  much  larger  dimensions.  These  works  were 
placed  upon  elevated  ground,  and,  in  consequence  of  their  dis 
tance  from  water,  are  presumed  to  have  been  intended  for  other 
purposes  than  habitation. 

The  state  of  Kentucky  contains  many  of  these  ruins.  There 
was  one  near  Lexington  which  has  been  mistaken  for  an  Indian 
structure.!  Its  form  was  an  irregular  oval,  about  fourteen 
hundred  yards  in  circumference,  surrounded  by  an  earthen  em 
bankment,  from  eight  to  ten  feet  thick  at  the  base  and  from  five 
to  ten  feet  high,  broken  by  apertures  or  gates  at  irregular  inter 
vals.  Near  the  middle  of  the  enclosure  waf.  a  small  mound, 
about  two  or  three  feet  in  height,  and  also  a  number  of  pits  or 
depressions,  resembling  sunken  graves.  The  whole  work,  inclu 
sive  of  the  ramparts,,  was  overgrown  with  a  forest  of  trees  of  a 
large  size,  and  of  the  growth  and  kind  usual  in  the  vicinity. 

On  the  Mississippi,  a  few  miles  below  lake  Pepin,  upon  a 
broad  plain,  the  appearance  of  entrenchments  has  been  observed, 
forming  a  breastwork  about  four  feet  high.  Their  form  was 

*  Arch.  Amer.,  vol.  i.  p.  147. 

t  Trans.  Amer.  Phil.  Soc.  N.  S.,  vol.i.  pp.  310,  312. 


46  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

semicircular,  the  ends  reaching  to  the  water,  and  the  whole  line 
extending  about  a  mile.* 

In  the  town  of  Jefferson,  west  from  Milwaulkee,  on  the 
west  branch  of  Rock  river,  are  the  ruins  of  an  extensive  walled 
city,  with  a  number  of  mounds  or  tumuli  in  the  immediat^ 
vicinity.  The  form  of  that  part  examined  is  oblong,  and  its 
area  is  surrounded  with  the  dilapidated  remains  of  a  brick  wall, 
one  quarter  of  a  mile  in  extent,  and  now  crumbled  to  the  earth. 
The  brick  appears  to  be  like  that  made  at  the  present  day  with 
the  exception  of  its  possessing  a  lighter  color,  and  the  wall  is 
covered  with  vegetable  matter,  and  completely  overgrown  with 
verdure.  Its  remains  are  now  twenty-three  feet  wide  at  the 
base,  and  four  or  five  high,  the  wall  having  originally  been  much 
higher  and  narrower,  but  being  now  spread  out  by  decay;  the 
vestiges  of  buttresses  projecting,  at  regular  intervals,  seventeen 
feet  beyond  its  line,  are  still  perceptible.  At  the  north-west  and 
south-west  corners  of  the  enclosure,  upon  the  exterior,  are  two 
semicircular  groups  of  mounds,  their  respective  heights  varying 
from  three  to  t^fenty-five  feet ;  at  the  same  corners,  on  the 
inner  side  of  the  enclosure,  are  two  square  elevated  plains  or 
terraces,  fifteen  feet  high,  one  of  them  accessible  by  a  stairway. 
Upon  the  eastern  side,  towards  the  margin  of  the  river,  two  other 
terraces  appear ;  and  about  the  middle  of  the  eastern  wall,  at  the 
water's  edge,  is  the  termination  of  a  sewer,  three  feet  below  the 
surface,  and  arched  with  stone.  An  elevated  ridge  of  earth  con 
necting  two  of  the  terraces,  parallel  walls  running  north  and 
south  through  the  interior  of  the  fort,  and  the  remains  of  a  cellar, 

*  Carver's  Travels,  p.  45.— Pike's  Expedition,  p.  18. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  47 

complete  the  description  of  these  interesting  ruins  so  far  as  they 
have  yet  been  examined.* 

In  the  state  of  Illinois,  three  miles  above  the  Vermillion 
river,  upon  an  elevated  cliff  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Illinois 
river,  is  Rock  fort.  The  summit  of  the  hill  is  level,  contains 
about  three  quarters  of  an  acre,  and  is  covered  with  soil  and 
young  trees.  Here  is  a  regular  entrenchment,  corresponding  in 
its  course  with  the  edge  of  the  precipice ;  and  within  this  are 
other  excavations,  covered  with  trees.  Upon  this  spot  have 
been  found  broken  muscle  shells,  fragments  of  antique  pottery, 
and  stones  which  have  been  subjected  to  the  action  of  heat, 
resembling  lava.f  Between  this  place  and  Mount  Joliet,  are 
the  ancient  sites  of  several  old  villages;  one,  on  the  top  of 
Buffalo  rock,  and  another,  in  a  plain,  have  been  completely 
encompassed  by  a  ditch  and  wall,  the  remains  of  which  are 
still  conspicuous,  and  the  extent  of  their  lines  easily  traced. 

In  Gasconade  county,  Missouri,  are  the  ruins  of  an  an 
cient  town,  regularly  laid  out,  in  streets  and  squares  ;  the 
remains  of  some  of  the  houses  still  exist,  and  foundations  of 
stone  are  found  in  different  parts  of  the  area.  Another  stone 
work  is  situated  about  sixteen  miles  -distant  from  this,  which 
appears  to  have  been  constructed  with  great  regularity.!  Upon 
Buffalo  Creek  and  the  Osage  river,  ruins  of  similar  stone  build 
ings  may  be  observed,  evincing  a  superior  degree  of  architec 
tural  skill.§  One,  at  Noyer  Creek,  has  been  more  particularly 
described.  It  presents  the  dilapidated  remnants  of  a  building 
constructed  of  rough,  unhewn  stone,  fifty-six  feet  long  and 

*  N.  F.  Hyer's  Account  f  Schoolcraft's  Mississippi,  p.  320. 

i  Beck's  Gazetteer,  p.  234.  §  Ibid.  p.  306. 


48  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

twenty-two  broad.  The  walls  are  from  two  to  five  feet  high, 
enclosing  a  semicircular,  a  square,  and  two  oblong  chambers. 
The  oblong  apartments  were  roofed  with  the  arch  of  receding 
inverted  steps,  and  the  semicircular  chamber  contained  several 
human  bones.  Eighty  rods  east  from  this  building  was  another, 
of  smaller  dimensions  and  of  similar  construction,  and  having  a 
circular  apartment  between  two  oblong  ones,  without  any  inter 
communication. 

Upon  a  low  plain,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Missouri  river, 
opposite  the  upper  extremity  of  Bonhomme  Island,  there  has 
been  discovered  an  ancient  enclosure  including  an  area  of  about 
Jive  hundred  acres*  It  consists  of  two  long  straight  walls, 
from  six  to  fifteen  feet  in  height  and  from  seventy-five  to  one 
hundred  feet  in  width  at  the  base  ;  one  running  along  the  mar 
gin  of  the  river,  and  the  other  proceeding  from  bank  to  bank, 
so  as  to  take  in  the  ground  intervening  and  lying  in  the  bend 
of  the  stream.  A  circular  redoubt  is  situated  upon  the  opposite 
extremity  of  Bonhomme  Island,  with  a  wall  surrounding  it, 
about  six  feet  high.  The  extremity  of  one  of  the  long  walls  is 
protected  by  a  similar  work,  while  the  other  end  terminates  in 
a  species  of  citadel,  of  a  semicircular  shape,  strongly  fortified, 
and  possessing  horn-works,  curtains  defending  the  gateways, 
and  covered  ways  to  the  river.  The  walls  of  these  ruins  are 
covered  with  large  cotton-trees  of  full  growth. 

Similar  remains  have  been  observed  in  the  Territory  still 
further  west  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  also  on  the  Platte, 
Kanzas,  and  Jacques  rivers.f  Upon  the  banks  of  the  Arkansas 

*  Lewis  and  Clark's  Travels,  p.  47.  t  Ibid,  p.  65. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  49 

river,  is  a  regular  fortification  covering  an  area  of  twenty-five 
acres  ;  the  walls  are  eight  feet  high,  with  deep  ditches  twenty- 
five  feet  broad.  It  has  two  entrances,  and  the  appearance  of  a 
secret  passage  or  covert  way  may  be  seen  :  in  the  middle  are 
two  truncated  mounds,  each  eighty  feet  high  and  one  thousand 
feet  in  circumference  at  the  base.* 

Other  mural  remains  have  been  discovered  within  this 
state,  and  some  of  them  are  said  to  be  constructed  with  brick  ; 
but  though  we  have  every  reason  to  anticipate  such  discoveries, 
and  particularly  in  the  region  stretching  towards  Mexico,  the 
authority  for  their  existence  is  too  uncertain  for  reliance,  and 
needs  further  confirmation.f 

From  this  brief  outline  of  the  ancient  fossa,  cities,  walls  and 
fortifications,  it  will  be  readily  perceived  that  those  in  the  state 
of  Ohio  have  been  the  most  carefully  surveyed,  and  have  re 
ceived  the  most  accurate  descriptions,  while  as  to  those  in 
other  sections,  we  owe  our  acquaintance  with  them  for  the  most 
part  to  accidental  and  hasty  observations,  seldom  conducted  upon 
any  fixed  plan,  or  from  any  other  motive  than  casual  curiosity. 
It  is  highly  probable  that  the  unexplored  regions  of  the  west 
still  offer  a  rich  field  for  future  research,  and  will  add  immeasu 
rably  to  our  information  upon  a  subject  so  intimately  connected 
with  the  development  of  the  history  of  this  continent,  and  of 
its  ancient  inhabitants.  Not  the  least  important  object  of  such 


*  Silliman's  Journal,  vol.  iii.  p.  38. 

f  "  When  at  Little  Rock  we  were  strongly  urged  to  visit  an  unex 
plored  city,  said  to  lie  on  the  banks  of  Red  River  to  the  north-west  of 
Alexandria,  which  is  known  in  that  remote  country  by  the  name  of 
the  Old  Town.  This,  we  were  seriously  assured,  might  be  traced  by 


50  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

an  investigation  is  the  determination  of  the  position,  extent, 
and  chain  of  continuity  of  these  ruins,  upon  which  circum 
stances  depends  in  some  degree  the  solution  of  a  portion  of  the 
history  of  their  authors. 

embankments  and  ruins  over  an  area  twenty-three  miles  long,  by  four 
broad.  Our  informant  stated  that  he  should  judge  the  cemetery  to  be 
a  mile  square." — Latrobe's  Rambler  in  North  America,  vol.  ii.  p.  179. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  51 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ANCIENT   REMAINS   IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

THE  last  order  of  these  antiquities  in  the  United  States  con 
sists  of  Mounds,  which  are  square,  oblong,  or  circular  at  the  base, 
and  conical  or  flat  at  the  summit.  They  are  either  tumuli,  ter 
raced  elevations  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mural  remains,  or  trun 
cated  pyramidal  erections.  The  tumuli  are  always  the  reposito 
ries  of  the  dead,  and  it  is  probable  most  of  the  other  mounds 
may  have  served,  secondarily,  as  sepulchres ;  though  the  prin 
cipal  object  of  many,  contiguous  to  the  fortifications,  was  un 
questionably  defensive,  while  the  purpose  of  others,  and  particu 
larly  of  the  larger  truncated  pyramids,  was  religious. 

Where  there  exists  so  much  resemblance  in  form,  it  is  not 
always  easy  to  distinguish  the  ancient  tumuli  from  those  thrown 
up  by  the  Indians.  The  superior  dimensions  of  the  former 
usually  present  one  mark  of  distinction,  not  always,  however, 
satisfactory.  In  their  contents  we  perceive  surer  indica 
tions  of  their  origin,  especially  in  the  traces  of  the  incine 
ration  of  the  dead,  a  custom  not  usually  prevailing  at  present 
with  the  Indians.  Another  characteristic  difference,  but  one 
not  invariable,  is  exhibited  in  the  nature  of  their  materials — 
those  of  ancient  workmanship  appearing  often  to  have  been 
erected  with  alluvion  dissimilar  from  the  neighboring  soil.  It 
may  be  added  also  that  the  association  of  the  ancient  tumuli  in 


52  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

groups,  and  their  proximity  to  the  fortified  enclosures,  indicate 
an  identity  of  origin.  The  regular  form  and  position  of  those 
groups  more  isolated,  and  the  symmetrical  manner  in  which  they 
are  generally  arranged,  prevent  any  confusion  between  them  and 
the  less  ancient  structures  proceeding  from  the  Indians,  which 
usually  occur  singly. 

Many  of  the  ancient  tumuli  consist  of  earth,  and  others  of 
stone,  the  composition  depending  however  upon  the  natural  fa 
cilities  for  obtaining  either  material.  Thus  of  three,  discovered 
upon  an  elevated  ridge  in  the  state  of  Kentucky,  two  were  of 
the  former,  and  one  of  the  latter  description  ;  all,  however,  ex 
hibiting  the  same  internal  indications  in  other  respects.*  They 
had  been  erected  over  dead  bodies,  or  rather  over  the  ashes  of 
the  dead,  as  beneath  them  were  ashes,  calcined  bones,  and  char 
red  wood,  enclosed  in  a  grave  formed  of  flat  pieces  of  stone. 
These  mounds  were  thirty-six  feet  in  diameter,  but  only  three  in 
height ;  and  they  have  been  considered  as  of  recent  construction, 
though  they  are  manifestly  of  the  same  character  with  others 
found  on  the  Muskingum  river,  which  are  unquestionably  an 
cient,  f  The  latter  were  composed  of  earth,  and  had  a  basis  of  well 
burnt  bricks,  each  four  or  five  inches  square,  upon  which  were 
cinders,  charcoal,  and  pieces  of  calcined  human  bones.  A  simi 
lar  mound  of  large  dimensions  existed  at  Marietta,  which  on 
being  removed  was  found  to  contain,  besides  pieces  of  copper, 
silver  plate,  and  oxided  iron,  one  human  body  upon  the  surface 
of  the  earth,  deposited  with  the  face  upwards,  and  the  head 
pointing  to  the  south-west.  Blackened  earth,  charcoal,  and  a 
circular  coffin  of  thin  flat  stones  still  dark  and  stained  with 

*  Drake's  Picture  of  Cincinnati,  p.  201. 
f  Archceologia  Americana,  vol.  i.  p.  163. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  53 

smoke,  demonstrated  that  the  funeral  obsequies  had  been  celebra 
ted  by  fire.  This  mound  was  six  feet  high,  and  thirty  in  diameter, 
and  its  materials  were  taken  from  the  adjacent  plain. 

Another  mound  of  similar  dimensions,  at  a  short  distance 
from  Marietta,  on  being  examined  was  found  to  contain  cop 
per  ornaments,  together  with  the  remains  of  a  single  skele 
ton,  also  probably  burnt  before  burial.* 

Near  the  centre  of  the  circular  enclosure  at  Circleville 
above  described,  was  a  tumulus  about  ten  feet  high.  On  the 
east  side  a  raised  passage-way  led  to  its  level  summit,  which 
was  thirty  feet  in  diameter,  and  on  the  same  side  was  a  semicircu 
lar  pavement  composed  of  pebbles.f  This  mound  has  been  re 
moved,  and  its  contents  were  a  great  quantity  of  arrow  or 
spear-heads;  the  handle  of  some  iron  instrument,  as  was  thought, 
encircled  by  a  ferule  of  silver ;  a  large  mica  mirror  three  feet 
long ;  a  plate  of  iron  oxidized,  and  two  skeletons  twenty  feet 
asunder,  surrounded  with  ashes,  charcoal,  and  well-burnt  brick. 

At  Cincinnati  a  mound  eight  feet  high,  sixty  broad,  and 
six  hundred  and  twenty  long,J  on  examination  appeared  to 

*  Archaeologia  Americana,  vol.  i.  p.  175.  f  Ibid.  p.  177. 

t  One  of  the  first  accounts,  written  in  1794,  describes  this  mound 
as  raised  upon  the  margin  of  the  second  bank  of  the  Ohio  river,  eight 
feet  in  height  and  with  a  base  of  about  one  hundred  and  twenty 
by  sixty.  Upon  its  surface  were  found  stumps  of  oak  trees  seven 
feet  in  diameter.  The  articles  which  were  found  were  near  a  body 
interred  in  a  horizontal  position,  and  with  the  head  towards  the  setting 
sun.  The  instruments  of  stone  were  smoothly  and  regularly  cut,  and 
of  great  hardness.  The  copper  was  well  wrought^  and  the  carved 
bones  were  not  human  remains. — Transactions  ofAmer.  Phil.  Soc^ 
vol.  iv.  p.  178. 


54  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

belong  to  the  same  class.*  Its  oval  figure  and  correspondence 
with  the  cardinal  points,  evince  the  advancement  in  knowledge 
of  its  architects,  which  conclusion  is  not  disproved  by  the  cha 
racter  of  its  contents.  These,  besides  articles  of  jasper,  crystal, 
coal,  and  carved  bones,  consisted  also  of  beads ;  lead,  copper, 
and  mica  plates ;  marine  shells  of  the  genus  buccinum,  cut 
into  domestic  utensils,  and  the  sculptured  representation  of 
the  head  of  a  voracious  bird ;  while,  as  in  the  mounds  before 
described,  human  bones  appeared,  some  enclosed  in  coffins  of 
stone,  but  all  embedded  in  ashes  and  charcoal,  the  unfailing 
signs  of  the  burning  of  the  deceased. 

In  Knox  county,  Tennessee,  upon  the  Holston  river,  are 
several  pyramidal  mounds,  surrounded  by  an  earthen  entrench 
ment  enclosing  several  acres.f  At  every  angle  of  the  embank 
ment,  it  sweeps  out  into  a  semicircle;  and  it  appears  well 
calculated  as  a  military  work.  One  of  the  mounds  upon  being 
penetrated  developed  a  quantity  of  ashes  and  charcoal.  Near 
Newport,  in  the  same  state,  is  another  mound  thirty  feet  high, 
its  base  covering  half  an  acre,  and  its  superior  surface  level  like 
those  of  the  others. 

Nine  miles  south-east  from  Lancaster,  in  Fairfield  county,J 
Ohio,  stood  a  mound  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  circumference, 
and  fifteen  feet  in  height.  Upon  examination,  there  was  found 
at  a  level  corresponding  with  the  surface  of  the  earth,  a  fur 
nace  of  unhewn  stone  eighteen  feet  long,  six  wide,  and  one  and 
a  half  high,  having  a  stone  apparently  shaped  with  some  instru 
ment  closing  the  mouth.  Upon  this  furnace  was  placed  a  vessel 

*  Drake's  Picture  of  Cincinnati,  p.  205. 

f  Silliman's  Journal,  vol.  i.  p.  428. 

J  Dr.  Kreider's  Communication  to  Fairfield  County  Med.  Soc. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  55 

of  the  same  dimensions,  two  feet  deep,  and  half  an  inch  thick, 
made  of  earthenware,  perfectly  smooth,  and  well  moulded ;  and 
underneath  was  a  thick  layer  of  ashes  and  charcoal,  while  the 
bottom  of  the  vessel,  from  its  appearance,  had  evidently  been 
subjected  to  the  action  of  heat.  This  huge  caldron  contained 
twelve  human  skeletons,  of  various  size  and  age :  around  the 
neck  of  one  of  the  children  were  beads  of  muscle  shell,  a  piece 
of  cane,  entire  shells,  arrowrs,  and  a  curiously  wrought  stone. 

Near  Newark,  Ohio,  is  a  conical  stone  tumulus,  forty  feet 
high,  and  with  a  base  one  hundred  feet  in  diameter.*  The 
tumulus  described  as  ninety  feet  high,  at  Circleville,  stood  on  an 
eminence  which  also  appeared  to  be  artificial.!  It  contained 
an  immense  number  of  human  skeletons,  of  every  size  and  age, 
all  laid  horizontally,  with  their  heads  towards  the  centre,  and 
feet  towards  the  outside  of  the  mound.  Stone  axes,  knives,  and 
various  ornaments  were  found  deposited,  generally  near  the  head 
of  every  individual. 

A  mound  formerly  stood  near  the  middle  of  the  town  of 
Chillicothe,  fifteen  feet  high,  and  sixty  feet  in  diameter.J  Hu 
man  bones  occurred  in  various  parts,  on  its  being  levelled;  and 
at  the  surface  of  the  earth,  upon  pieces  of  bark,  lay  a  single 
human  skeleton,  covered  with  a  mat ;  on  its  breast  was  an 
oblong  stone  ornament  perforated  with  two  holes,  by  which  it 
was  connected  with  a  string  of  bone  beads,  and  a  piece  of  cop 
per  in  the  shape  of  a  cross. 

On  the  Grave  Creek,  Virginia,  below  Wheeling,  is  a  large 
mound,  seventy  feet  in  height,  with  a  level  summit  sixty  feet  in 

*  Delafield's  Inquiry,  p.  55.  f  Arch.  Amer.,  vol.  i.p.  179. 

I  Arch.  Amer.,  vol.  i.  p.  182. — Description  of  the  Ohio,  etc.  p.  36. 


56  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

diameter.*  The  circumference  of  its  base  is  three  hundred  yards ; 
and  there  is  no  excavation  in  the  vicinity  whence  its  materials 
could  have  been  obtained.  At  a  short  distance  stand  three 
smaller  elevations,  and  several  others  appear  scattered  around 
in  different  directions.  Some  of  these  contained  relics  of  cop 
per,  instruments  of  stone,  and  human  bones ;  and  one  is  encom 
passed  by  a  ditch,  and  parapet  five  feet  in  height,  intersected 
by  a  single  gateway .f 

One  of  these  mounds  has  been  recently  penetrated  on  the 
north  side,  about  four  feet  above  the  base,  by  a  passage  pro 
ceeding  horizontally  towards  the  centre.  Two  vaults  wrere 
discovered,  constructed  at  different  dates ;  one  placed  near  the 
top,  the  other  near  the  bottom :  they  had  been  built  with 
pillars  of  wood  supporting  a  roof  of  stone.  The  lower  chamber 
contained  two  skeletons, — the  bones  much  decayed, — which  ap 
peared  to  have  been  buried  in  an  erect  or  sitting  position.  In 
the  upper  chamber,  besides  the  decomposed  bones  of  a  skeleton, 
there  were  found  ivory  beads,  copper  wristlets,  small  plates  of 
mica,  marine  shells  of  the  genus  voluta,  and  a  flat  stone  marked 
with  unknown  characters. 

On  the  low  grounds  of  the  Kenhawa,  in  Virginia,  near  the 
junction  of  one  of  its  branches,  the  Elk  river,  is  a  mound  nearly 
forty  feet  in  altitude.  The  circumference  of  its  base  measures 
one  hundred  and  forty  yards ;  its  form  is  that  of  a  truncated 
cone;  and  upon  the  summit  there  is  a  level  area  twelve  or 
thirteen  feet  in  diameter.  Near  it  is  a  group  of  several  smaller 
mounds ;  and  within  a  few  miles  of  this  stands  another,  said  to 

*  Harris's  Tour,  p.  62. — Silliman's  Journal,  vol.  vi.  p.  166. 
|  Amer.  Phil.  Trans.,  vol.  iii.  p.  215. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  57 

be  much  higher.  No  marks  of  excavation  are  to  be  seen  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  it  is  supposed  that  the  earth  employed  in  its 
erection  was  brought  from  some  distance.* 

On  the  Cahokia,  nearly  opposite  to  St.  Louis,  in  the  state 
of  Illinois,  within  a  circuit  of  four  to  seven  miles,  there  are 
upwards  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  mounds.  One  of  these,  called 
The  Monk  mound,  from  having  been  occupied  by  some  friars  of 
the  order  of  La  Trappe,  is  truncated,  and  in  the  form  of  a  paral 
lelogram,  stretching  from  the  north  to  the  south.f  Its  height 
is  ninety  feet,  and  the  circumference  of  its  base  has  been  estima 
ted  to  be  from  two  thousand  to  two  thousand  four  hundred  feet.J 
Upon  the  southern  side  is  a  terrace,  twenty  feet  lower  than  the 
summit,  which  formerly  was  approached  by  an  inclined  plane, 
projecting  from  its  middle,  about  fifteen  feet  wide.  The  ar 
rangement  of  some  of  the  smaller  mounds  appears  to  have  been 
made  with  reference  to  this ;  and  the  mounds  of  another  group, 
near  by,  are  symmetrically  placed  in  the  form  of  a  semicircle. 
Arrow-heads,  earthenware  and  human  bones  have  been  discov 
ered  in  the  vicinity,  and  by  excavations  into  the  body  of  the 
Monk  mound.  At  the  junction  of  the  Catahoola,  Washita  and 
Tensa  rivers,  in  Louisiana,  another  truncated  mound,  with  a 
similar  step  or  terrace,  may  be  observed,  surrounded  by  a  group 
of  smaller  size.§ 

In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  St.  Louis,  on  the  other  side  of 
the  Mississippi,  there  are  also  several  other  groups  of  mounds. 
One  of  these  mounds,  situated  on  the  second  bank  of  the  river, 
is  formed  with  three  stages,  or  platforms,  upon  the  side  facing 

*  Trans.  Amer.  Phil.  Soc.  vol.  vi.  p.  138. 
f  Beck's  Gazetteer,  pp.  43,  139. 

t  Brackenridge's  Views,  p.  173.  §  Ibid.  p.  175. 

8 


58  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

the  river ;  and  another  with  two  stages.  The  arrangement  of 
these  series  of  mounds  is  symmetrical,  and  they  are  generally 
in  the  form  of  truncated  pyramids.  Those  of  them  that  have 
been  excavated  have  disclosed  human  bones,  earthenware, 
charred  wood,  and  other  miscellaneous  articles.* 

Near  Natchez  is  a  number  of  mounds,  several  of  which  have 
been  penetrated.  Of  these,  a  group  about  eleven  miles  from 
that  city,  is  the  most  remarkable.  One  of  them  thirty-five  feet 
high,  of  an  oval  form,  and  with  precipitous  sides,  presents  on 
its  summit  an  elliptical  area  of  four  acres,  encompassed  by  an 
embankment  around  the  margin.  Within  this  enclosure  on  the 
east  side  rises  another  mound  fifteen  feet  high  :  on  the  north 
side  are  two  more,  on  the  south  two,  and  on  the  west  is  a  fifth 
thirty  feet  high,  and  with  a  flat  summit.  The  large  mound  is  sur 
rounded  by  a  ditch  at  its  base,  and  on  its  sides  are  indentations, 
and  projections  resembling  salient  angles.  In  the  middle  of  the 
area  at  the  top  of  the  mound,  is  the  mouth  of  a  subterranean 
passage  leading  to  a  spring,  and  in  the  opposite  quarter  towards 
the  south  are  traces  of  a  similar  outlet.  On  the  eastern  side 
are  two  smaller  elevations  ten  feet  high,  which  appear  like 
terraced  bastions.  Remains  of  excavated  roads  converging 
to  this  great  work  are  still  visible,  and  many  weapons,  imple 
ments,  vessels,  fragments  of  pottery  and  human  bonesf  have 
been  discovered. 

Upon  the  north  side  of  the  Etowah  river,  in  Georgia,  is  a 
mound  seventy-five  feet  high,  and  one  thousand  in  circumference 
at  its  base.J  An  inclined  plane  for  the  purpose  of  ascent  to 

*  Trans.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.,  vol.  i.  p.  155. 
t  Southwest  by  a  Yankee,  vol.  ii.  p.  224. 
|  Silliman's  Journal,  vol.  i.  p.  322. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  59 

its  level  summit  extends  from  one  of  its  sides ;  and  two  others, 
after  rising  thirty  or  forty  feet,  terminate  in  triangular  platforms 
or  terraces,  upon  the  other  side.  At  the  south-east  is  another 
mound  with  its  top  encircled  by  a  breastwork.* 

In  Florida  there  are  numerous  mounds.  Some  upon  the 
shores  of  the  sea  are  composed  of  shells,  and  have  been  found  to 
contain  clay-ware,  ashes,  and  charcoal.  One  found  on  Penon 
island,  of  a  conical  form,  upon  being  opened  disclosed  human 
bones ;  and  De  Soto  is  said  to  have  obtained  from  others  pearls, 
"  and  the  figures  of  children  and  birds  made  also  of  pearl/'f 
Numbers  of  earthen  mounds  appear  throughout  the  wrhole  of  this 
territory,  unconnected  with  the  ancient  fortifications ;  and  from 
their  being  found  bearing  at  cardinal  points  from  each  other, 
remote  from  natural  landmarks,  and  in  conspicuous  situations,  it 
is  supposed  they  were  intended  as  marks  of  territorial  division.J 

On  the  eastern  margin  of  a  prairie  at  the  back  of  Vin- 
cennes  in  Indiana,  are  several  uncommonly  large  mounds, 
presenting  the  form  of  vast  truncated  cones.  "  In  the  immense 
masses  of  earth  employed  in  their  construction,  and  perhaps  also 
in  their  comparatively  ill-defined  basal  margins,  these  tumuli 
bear  a  close  resemblance  to  the  mounds  of  St.  Louis.§ 

Mount  Joliet,  another  mound  of  some  celebrity,  is  situated 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  state  of  Illinois,  and  was  first  ob- 

*  Mr.  Adair  describes  two  of  these  structures  which  existed  in  the 
Choctaw  country.  They  were  of  great  size,  of  an  oblong  form,  and 
both  enclosed  by  a  broad  deep  ditch  and  a  breast-work. — Adair^ 
p.  378. 

f  A  Relation  of  the  Invasion  and  Conquest  of  Florida,  etc.  pp. 
64,  65. 

\  G.  F.  Clarke's  Essay.  §  Schoolcraft's  Mississippi,  p.  157. 


60  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

served  by  the  Sieur  Joliet  in  1673.*  It  is  an  oval  structure 
corresponding  in  its  position  with  the  cardinal  points;  the 
length  of  its  base  is  about  one  thousand  feet,  and  its  breadth 
seven  hundred  and  fifty.  It  is  of  a  pyramidal  form,  level  at  the 
top,  and  one  of  the  largest  mounds  in  the  United  States. 

Near  New  Madrid,  Missouri,  a  number  of  mounds  occur, 
one  of  which  is  twelve  hundred  feet  in  circumference,  and  forty 
in  height.  It  is  also  truncated,  and  surrounded  at  its  base  by 
an  entrenchment  and  ditch.f 

Upon  the  Arkansas  river,  just  below  the  town  of  Arkansas, 
formerly  stood  a  large  mound,  forty  feet  high,  situated  towards 
the  centre  of  a  circle  of  other  smaller  mounds,  and  some  elevated 
platforms,  or  terraces  of  earth.! 

Such  is  a  brief  sketch  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the  ancient 
mural  remains,  mounds,  and  other  relics  of  the  nations  which  for 
merly  occupied  a  large  portion  of  our  country.  In  these  monu 
ments  are  we  presented  with  the  only  direct  testimonies  where- 
from  to  deduce  some  historical  knowledge  of  their  authors ;  and 
before  proceeding  further,  it  may  be  wrell  to  inquire  what  facts 
appear  to  be  established  at  this  stage  of  the  investigation. 

1.  Their  identity  of  origin. — The  general  character  of  all 

*  Beck's  Gazetteer,  p.  141.  |  Ibid.  p.  304. 

I  Nuttall's  Arkansas,  p.  69.— Vide  also,  Trans.  Amer.  Phil. 
Sec.,  vol.  iii.  p.  217. 

At  Baton  Rouge  there  are  mounds  composed  entirely  of  shells, 
like  some  of  those  in  Florida.  Mr.  Brackenridge  says,  "  I  have  been 
informed  that  in  the  plains  between  the  Arkansas  and  St.  Francis, 
the  mounds  are  numerous  and  some  very  large,"  and  he  also  gives  a 
list  of  fifteen  different  places,  at  the  West,  where  there  are  extensive 
groups  of  these  monuments. —  Trans.  Amer.  Phil.  Soc.,  vol.  iii.  p.  155. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  61 

these  remains  indicates  an  origin  from  the  same  nation,  or  from 
branches  of  the  same  people.  Although  there  is  some  variety 
to  be  observed  in  their  form  and  arrangement,  yet  certain  lead 
ing  and  predominant  features  distinguish  them  all ;  and,  from 
a  careful  survey,  we  are  urged  to  the  conclusion,  that  they 
proceeded  from  nations  possessing  similar  customs  and  insti 
tutions. 

2.  Their  extent  and  locality. — These  ruins  extend  over  a 
wide  district  of  territory :  commencing  in  the  state  of  New 
York,  and  stretching  along  the  western  line  of  the  Alleghanies, 
at  the  south  they  bend  eastwardly  through  Georgia,  and  are 
terminated  only  by  the  ocean  in  the  southernmost  part  of  Flori 
da.  At  the  west,  we  find  them  in  great  numbers  upon  the 
margins  of  all  the  western  waters,  reaching  far  up  towards  the 
sources  of  the  Mississippi,  and  scattered  along  the  banks  of 
the  Missouri  and  of  its  branches,  and  thence  down  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  and  beyond  the  Red  River  towards  Mexico, 
whither,  although  the  line  has  not  yet  been  accurately  followed, 
they  can  probably  be  traced.  Indeed,  Mr.  Brackenridge  ob 
serves,  that  "the  distance  from  the  large  mound  on  the  Red 
river  to  the  nearest  in  New  Spain  is  not  so  great,  but  that  they 
might  be  considered  as  existing  in  the  same  country."* 

It  will  be  perceived,  then,  that  at  no  point  do  they  touch  the 
Atlantic  ocean,  except  in  Florida;  that  at  the  north  and  west, 
so  far  as  discoveries  have  been  made,  they  find  a  limit,  and  do 
not  approach  the  colder  regions,  nor  reach  to  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  at  the  south-west  they  range 
towards  Mexico,  and  nearly  in  a  direct  and  unbroken  chain  of 

*  Trans,  Amer.  Phil.  Soc.,  vol.  i.  p.  156. 


62  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

continuity.  That  Florida  was  not  the  first  seat  of  these  nations, 
whence  they  were  diffused  towards  the  valley  of  the  West, 
appears  from  the  reflection,  that  among  all  nations  the  first 
extension  of  population  has  been  along  the  shores  of  rivers  and 
oceans.  If  Florida  had  been  their  first  and  original  position, 
they  would  naturally  have  extended  their  settlements  along  the 
Atlantic  frontier ;  but  there  we  find  no  indications  of  their  exist 
ence,  and  it  would  appear  to  be  a  just  inference  to  suppose,  that 
the  course  of  migration  has  been  from  the  great  western  valleys 
southwardly  into  Florida.  At  the  south-west,  however,  we  trace 
them  towards  Mexico ;  thither,  then,  so  far  as  any  indications  • 
exist  in  their  locality  and  position,  are  we  directed  in  the  inves 
tigation  of  their  origin. 

3.  Their  numbers. — In  the  description  just  given  of  these 
ruins,  those  only  have  been  pointed  out  which  are  remarkable 
for  their  contents,  size,  and  peculiarity  of  structure,  or  which 
are  important  in  developing  the  extent  and  position  of  the  ter 
ritory  occupied  by  their  authors.  A  vast  multitude  of  others,  of 
a  similar  character,  occur  throughout  the  district  whose  limits 
have  been  indicated,  demonstrating  beyond  a  doubt,  that  the 
whole  of  this  immense  region  was  in  the  possession  of  these 
nations.  The  author  just  quoted,  whose  accurate  personal 
observations  entitle  his  statements  to  great  weight,  in  relation 
to  the  number  of  the  earthen  enclosures  or  fortifications,  re 
marks,  "  The  traces  of  them  are  astonishingly  numerous  in  the 
western  country.  I  should  not  exaggerate  if  I  were  to  say  that 
five  thousand  might  be  found,  some  of  them  enclosing  more 
than  a  hundred  acres ;"  and  of  the  mounds  and  tumuli,  he  says 
that  they  are  much  more  numerous.*  This  statement,  though 
*  Trans.  Amer.  Phil.  Soc.,  vol.  i.  p.  153. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  63 

intended  to  apply  to  but  a  portion  of  the  country  covered  with 
these  ruins,  is  no  less  true  of  the  remainder ;  and  when  reflect 
ing  how  many  of  them  must  have  disappeared  in  the  cultivation 
of  the  soil,  without  attracting  more  than  a  local  and  temporary 
attention,  and  how  many  may  have  escaped  observation,  covered 
as  they  are  with  forests,  it  is  difficult,  perhaps,  to  entertain  too 
exaggerated  an  idea  of  the  immense  population  which  once 
crowded  this  spacious  territory.* 

4.  Their  antiquity. — The  character  of  these  structures  affords 
one  argument  for  their  antiquity ;  for  they  are  not  entrench 
ments  thrown  up  hastily  by  migrating  hordes,  but  on  the  con 
trary  the  ruins  of  cities  and  temples,  some,  of  the  most  massive 
and  durable  dimensions,  and  all  indicating  the  existence  of  a 
population  permanently  established.  But  wre  are  not  to  sup 
pose  that  they  are  all  of  contemporaneous  origin  ;  and  for  this 
as  well  as  other  reasons,  we  are  compelled  to  give  a  superior 
antiquity  to  those  located  in  the  West :  and  as  we  trace  the 
gradual  diffusion  of  population  from  that  quarter,  it  is  apparent 
how  long  a  period  must  have  elapsed  before  the  structures  on 
the  confines  of  this  great  empire  were  erected ;  add  to  this  the 
time  intervening  between  their  construction  and  their  abandon 
ment,  the  length  of  which  is  left  entirely  open  to  conjecture, — for 
we  know  not  how  long  these  nations  flourished, — and  the  mind  is 
irresistibly  led  back  to  a  remote  date.  But  even  the  precise  epoch 
of  their  desertion  lies  beyond  all  direct  and  positive  traditionary 

*  Professor  Rafinesque  ascertained  upwards  of  five  hundred  an 
cient  monuments  in  the  state  of  Kentucky,  and  fourteen  hundred  out 
of  it,  most  of  which  he  had  visited  and  surveyed  personally. — MS. 
Letter,  1824. 


64  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

testimony,  while  certain  physical  appearances  would  favor  the 
opinion  of  its  antiquity.  Most  of  these  monuments  are  covered 
with  forests ;  and  while  many  of  the  trees,  from  their  vast  size 
and  the  number  of  their  annular  layers  of  wood,  are  apparently 
of  great  age,  the  vestiges  of  decayed  wood,  and  the  absence 
of  that  uniformity  of  character  peculiar  to  a  recent  second  growth, 
demonstrate  that  several  generations  of  trees  have  sprung  up 
and  disappeared  since  these  works  were  deserted. 

The  full  force  of  this  argument  cannot  be  more  strongly 
illustrated  than  by  citing  the  lucid  description  given  by  the  late 
President  of  the  manner  in  which  the  forests  are  gradually  re 
stored  to  the  soil  after  its  tillage  is  abandoned.  "  The  process," 
he  remarks,  "  by  which  nature  restores  the  forest  to  its  original 
state,  after  being  once  cleared,  is  extremely  slow.  In  our  rich 
lands  it  is  indeed  soon  covered  again  with  timber  ;  but  the  char 
acter  of  the  growth  is  entirely  different,  and  continues  so 
through  many  generations  of  men.  In  several  places  on  the 
Ohio,  particularly  upon  the  farm  which  I  occupy,  clearings 
were  made  in  the  first  settlement,  abandoned,  and  suffered  to 
grow  up.  Some  of  them  now  to  be  seen,  of  nearly  fifty  years 
growth,  have  made  so  little  progress  toward  attaining  the  ap 
pearance  of  the  immediately  contiguous  forest,  as  to  induce  any 
man  of  reflection  to  determine,  that  at  least  ten  times  fifty  years 
would  be  necessary,  before  its  complete  assimilation  could  be 
effected.  The  sites  of  the  ancient  works  on  the  Ohio,  present 
precisely  the  same  appearance  as  the  circumjacent  forest.  You 
find  on  them  all  that  beautiful  variety  of  trees,  which  gives 
such  unrivalled  richness  to  our  forests.  This  is  particularly  the 
case  on  the  fifteen  acres  included  within  the  walls  of  the  work 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Miami,  and  the  relative  proportions  of 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  65 

the  different  kinds  of  timber  are  about  the  same.    The  first  growth 
on  the  same  kind  of  land  once  cleared,  and  then  abandoned  to 
nature,  on  the  contrary  is  more  homogeneous — often  stinted  to 
one  or  two,  or  at  most  three  kinds  of  timber.    If  the  ground  has 
been  cultivated,  yellow  locust  in  many  places  will  spring  up,  as 
thick  as  garden  peas.   If  it  has  not  been  cultivated,  the  black  and 
white  walnut  will  be  the  prevailing  growth.    The  rapidity  with 
which  these  trees  grow  for  a  time,  smothers  the  attempt  of 
other  kinds  to  vegetate  and  grow  in  their  shade.     The  more 
thrifty  individuals  soon  overtop  the  weaker  of  their  own  kind, 
which  sicken  and  die.     In  this  way  there  is  only  as  many  left 
as  the  earth  will  support  to  maturity."     "  This  state  of  things 
will  not,  however,  always  continue."     "  The  preference  of  the 
soil  for  its  first  growth,  ceases  with  its  maturity.     It  admits  of 
no  succession  upon  the  principles  of  legitimacy.     The  long 
undisputed  masters  of  the  forest,  may  be  thinned  by  the  light 
ning,  the  tempests,  or  by  diseases  peculiar  to  themselves ;  and 
whenever  this  is  the  case,  one  of  the  oft-rejected  of  another 
family  will  find,  between  its  decaying  roots,  shelter  and  appro 
priate  food,  and  springing  into  vigorous  growth,  will  soon  push 
its  green  foliage  to  the  skies,  through  the  decayed  and  wither 
ing  limbs  of  its  blasted  and  dying  adversary ;  the  soil  itself 
yielding  it  a  more  liberal  support  than  any  scion  from  the  for 
mer  occupants.     It  will  easily  be  conceived  what  a  length  of 
time  it  will  require  for  a  denuded  tract  of  land,  by  a  process  so 
slow,  again  to  clothe  itself  with  the  amazing  variety  of  foliage 
which  is  the  characteristic  of  the  forests  of  this  region.     Of 
what  immense  age  then  must  be  those  works,  so  often  referred 
to,  covered,  as  has  been  supposed  by  those  who  have  the  best 
opportunity  of  examining  them,  with  the  second  growth,  after 

9 


66  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

the  ancient  forest  state  had  been  regained"*  These  evidences 
are  therefore  similar  in  one  respect  to  all  the  other  facts  ad 
duced  to  prove  the  age  of  these  remains,  for  while  they  establish 
that  the  era  of  their  erection  is  not  modern ;  while  they  oppose 
not  a  single  objection  to  their  great  antiquity ;  they  still  fail  in 
pointing  out  with  any  degree  of  certainty  the  precise  era  of  their 
construction. 

In  attentively  examining  the  localities  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
mounds  and  mural  remains,  we  observe  various  physical  changes 
which  have  manifestly  occurred  since  their  construction — and 
which  are  usually  the  result  only  of  the  long,  gradual,  and  contin 
ued  action  of  natural  causes.  Thus  in  Florida,  lakes  which 
were  formerly  approached  by  artificial  avenues,  have  since  be 
come  dry.  At  the  west,  lakes  and  rivers  upon  whose  margins 
these  ruins  are  perceptible  have  deserted  their  ancient  beds  and 
channels,f  and  in  the  state  of  New  York  the  line  of  mural  re 
mains  is  bounded  by  the  ancient  shores  of  lakes  Erie  and  On 
tario.  There  is  nothing  to  contradict  this  conclusion,  as  to  their 

*  A  Discourse  on  the  Aborigines  of  the  Valley  of  the  Ohio,  by 
William  Henry  Harrison. 

f  "  They  are  for  the  most  part  in  rich  soils  and  conspicuous  situa 
tions.  In  the  prairie  regions,  where  I  have  seen  the  greatest  number, 
they  are  covered  with  tall  grass,  and  generally  near  benches  which 
indicate  the  former  course  of  rivers.  In  my  farm  on  the  beautiful 
prairie  below  St.  Charles,  the  Mamelle  or  '  Point  Prairie,'  were  two 
conical  mounds  of  considerable  elevation.  A  hundred  paces  in  front 
of  them  was  a  high  bench  marking  the  shore  of  the  Marais  Croche, 
an  extensive  marsh,  and  evidently  the  former  bed  of  the  Missouri." — 
Flinfs  Recollections,  p.  166. 

Truns.  Amer.  Phil.  Soc.  vol.  iii.  p.  154.  Scientific  Tracts,  New 
Series,  vol.  iii.  p.  157. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  67 

great  antiquity,  in  the  present  state  of  preservation  of  the  mounds 
and  mural  remains.  Earthen  structures  are  not  greatly  altered 
by  age ;  but  little  perceptible  change  is  made  upon  them  by 
the  action  of  the  elements,  if  they  are  favorably  located,  and  it 
is  certain  that  monuments  of  a  similar  character  are  among 
the  most  ancient  which  have  been  preserved  from  antiquity,  and 
are  more  enduring  than  the  most  solid  specimens  of  architec 
ture. 

5.  The  means  of  subsistence  of  these  nations. — The  eviden 
ces  of  the  numerous  population  formerly  inhabiting  the  sites  of 
these  ruins,  would  suggest  an  inquiry  as  to  their  means  of  sub 
sistence.     It  is  probable  some  traces  of  their  agriculture  still 
existed  not  many  years  since  ;  but  the  situation  of  the  towns  and 
cities  would  appear  to  be  decisive  of  this  question,  for  we  find 
them  usually  upon  the  shores  of  streams  and  upon  the  richest 
soil, — as  if  the  choicest  spots  for  the  cultivation  of  the  earth 
had  been  selected. 

6.  Their  institutions. — Civilized  nations,  living  in  populous 
communities,  cannot  subsist  without  some  controlling  form  of 
government — for  law  affords  one  of  the  elementary  distinctions 
between  savage  and  civilized  life,  and  its  protective  influence 
is  necessary  and  essential  to  the  encouragement  of  the  arts. 
The  existence  also  of  such  vast  public  works  would  fortify  this 
conclusion,  and  indicate  some  power  capable  of  controlling  and 
combining  the  labor  of  large  numbers  of  men. 

7.  The  objects  of  these  structures. — That  the  tumuli,  and 
many,  if  not  all  of  the  truncated  mounds  have  served  as  sepul 
chres,  may  be  inferred  from  the  contents  of  the  great  number  of 
them  already  examined ;  but  we  are  not  to  conclude  that  this 
was  the  sole  purpose  of  these  enormous  artificial  elevations. 


68  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

The  level  areas  upon  their  summits,  the  careful  manner  in 
which  some  have  been  guarded  by  entrenchments,  their  relative 
situation  to  the  fortified  enclosures,  and  the  regularity  with 
which  several  of  the  groups  have  been  arranged,  suggest  some 
other  object.  Numbers  of  them  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
fortifications  are  so  disposed,  as  to  demonstrate  that  they  assisted 
in  the  defence  of  those  positions.  Others,  and  this  remark  ap 
plies  to  the  majority  of  the  important  ones,  from  their  astro 
nomical  position  and  their  correspondence  with  the  cardinal 
points,  as  well  as  from  their  analogy  to  the  monuments  of 
other  nations,  it  is  reasonable  to  presume  were  sacred  edifices, 
and  bore  the  altars  of  the  gods. 

The  enclosures  were  likewise  of  two  classes ;  some,  of  a 
regular  geometrical  form  and  small  dimensions,  as  the  one  at 
Circleville,  having  been  intended  for  religious  purposes;  and 
others,  of  a  more  irregular  shape,  and  sometimes  containing  im 
mense  areas,  having  been  occupied  as  cities  and  fortresses.  It 
may  be  remarked,  that,  from  a  peculiarity  in  the  disposition  of 
some  of  the  earthen  embankments  around  the  sites  of  cities,  and 
from  the  existence  of  long  and  continued  lines  of  others  along 
the  margins  of  rivers,  it  would  appear  as  if  they  had  also  served 
for  the  protection  of  the  enclosed  areas,  and  the  circumjacent 
plains  from  the  disastrous  effects  of  inundations. 

Sometimes  we  find  embankments  extended  to  great  dis 
tances,  which,  judging  from  their  width,  situation,  and  other 
circumstances,  may  very  w^ell  have  served  as  roads.*  The 

*  The  Indians  had  wide  and  extensive  paths — war  or  hunting 
paths — which  stretched  great  distances,  and  having  been  opened 
from  time  immemorial,  it  has  been  supposed  some  of  them  denote 
the  course  of  the  roads  of  the  ancient  inhabitants. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  69 

long  oval  enclosures,  often  encircling  a  mound  at  one  end, 
concerning  which  much  conjecture  has  been  exercised,  and 
which  resemble  the  Roman  cursus,  were  probably  devoted  to  a 
similar  purpose,  and  were  traversed  on  festival  days  by  those 
religious  processions  which  were  so  frequent  in  the  sacred  cere 
monies  of  the  Mexicans. 

Where,  it  may  be  asked,  are  the  remains  of  the  dwellings 
of  these  nations  ?  The  same  question  arises  upon  viewing  the 
ruins  of  the  Mexican  temples  and  pyramids  now  standing  in 
solitude.  Its  solution  rests  in  the  fact,  that,  like  all  primitive 
people,  while  the  houses  of  their  princes  and  their  gods  were 
erected  in  the  most  durable  manner,  with  the  greatest  labor,  of 
the  most  massive  materials,  and  adorned  with  the  most  exquisite 
and  noble  architectural  embellishments,  the  tenements  of  the 
poor  were  of  more  humble  dimensions,  materials  and  structure. 
It  is  probable  the  latter  were  wooden  and  clay  huts,  or,  at  the 
best,  like  the  dwellings  of  the  Egyptians,  composed  of  crude 
brick.*  Thus,  as  might  have  been  anticipated,  their  religious 
monuments  still  remain,  while  of  the  dwellings  that  surrounded 
them  hardly  a  trace  can  be  distinguished. 

8.  The  fortifications. — The  best  military  judges  have  ob 
served  the  skill  with  which  the  sites  of  many  of  the  fortifications 
have  been  selected,  and  the  artful  combination  of  natural  advan 
tages  with  artificial  means  of  defence  exhibited  in  their  con- 

*  Wilkinson,  vol.  ii.  p.  96. 

"  What,"  says  Denon  in  his  Travels  into  Egypt,  "  has  become  of 
the  residences  or  palaces  of  the  kings  ?  Were  they  built  of  unbaked 
and  therefore  perishable  earth — or  did  the  great  men  as  well  as  the 
priests,  inhabit  the  temples,  and  the  people  only  huts  ?" — Denon's 
Travels,  vol.  iii.  p.  58. 


70  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

struction.*  The  care  taken  in  their  erection  must  have  been 
necessary  for  protection  against  a  powerful  external  enemy,  or 
from  internal  wars.  The  latter  probably  was  partially  the  case, 
as,  extrinsic  of  other  reasons,  it  is  hardly  likely  that  at  so  early 
a  period,  and  in  a  state  of  semi-civilized  society,  this  great  peo 
ple  were  united  under  one  sovereign,  or  were  free  from  internal 
commotions  and  revolutions. 

Upon  the  whole,  we  may  with  justice  say  of  these  nations, 
from  a  review  of  their  relics  and  monuments  thus  far, 

1.  That  they  were  all  of  the  same   origin,  branches  of 

*  Bishop  Madison  (Trans.  Amer.  Phil.  Soc.  vol.  vi.  p.  132,) 
has  clearly  shown  that  many  of  these  enclosures  never  could 
have  been  intended  as  fortresses,  and  with  this  conclusion  the 
following  opinion  of  a  competent  judge  coincides. — "  Great  as 
some  of  the  latter  are,  and  laborious  as  was  their  construction, 
particularly  those  of  Circleville  and  Newark,  I  am  persuaded  they 
were  never  intended  for  military  defences.  On  the  contrary,  those 
upon  the  Ohio  river  were  evidently  designed  for  that  purpose. 
The  three  that  I  have  examined,  those  of  Marietta,  Cincinnati, 
and  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Miami,  particularly  the  latter,  have  a 
military  character  stamped  upon  them  which  cannot  be  mistaken." 
The  engineers  "  who  directed  the  execution  of  the  Miami  work  appear 
to  have  known  the  importance  of  flank  defences,  and  if  their  bastions 
are  not  as  perfect,  as  to  form,  as  those  which  are  in  use  in  modern 
engineering,  their  position,  as  well  as  that  of  the  long  lines  of  curtains, 
are  precisely  as  they  should  be." — Harrison's  Discourse. 

Carver,  who  was  one  of  the  first  to  notice  these  works,  makes  a 
similar  remark  in  relation  to  the  entrenchments  he  discovered  near 
Lake  Pepin.  "  Though  much  defaced  by  time,"  he  observes,  "  every 
angle  was  distinguishable,  and  appeared  as  regular,  and  fashioned 
with  as  much  military  skill,  as  if  planned  by  Vauban  himself." — Car 
ter's  Travels,  p.  45. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  71 

the  same  race,  and  possessed  of  similar  customs  and  insti 
tutions. 

2.  That  they  were  populous,  and  occupied  a  great  extent 
of  territory. 

3.  That  they  had  arrived  at  a  considerable  degree  of  civ 
ilization,  were  associated  in  large  communities,  and  lived  in 
extensive  cities. 

4.  That  they  possessed  the  use  of  many  of  the  metals,  such 
as  lead,  copper,  gold  and  silver,  and  probably  the  art  of  work 
ing  in  them. 

5.  That  they  sculptured  in  stone,  and  sometimes  used  that 
material  in  the  construction  of  their  edifices. 

6.  That  they  had  the  knowledge  of  the  arch  of  receding 
steps;  of  the  art  of  pottery, — producing  utensils  and  urns  formed 
with  taste,  and  constructed  upon  the  principles  of  chemical 
composition;  and  of  the  art  of  brick-making. 

7.  That  they  worked  the  salt  springs,  and  manufactured 
that  substance. 

8.  That  they  were  an  agricultural  people,  living  under  the 
influence  and  protection  of  regular  forms  of  government. 

9.  That  they  possessed  a  decided  system  of  religion,  and  a 
mythology  connected  with   astronomy,  which,  with  its  sister 
science  geometry,  was  in  the  hands  of  the  priesthood. 

10.  That  they  were  skilled  in  the  art  of  fortification. 

11.  That  the  epoch  of  their  original  settlement,  in  the 
United  States,  is  of  great  antiquity ;  and, 

Lastly,  That  the  only  indications  of  their  origin,  to  be  gath 
ered  from  the  locality  of  their  ruined  monuments,  point  towards 
Mexico. 


72  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 


CHAPTER  V. 

ANTIQUITIES   IN   MEXICO   AND    THE   ADJACENT   STATES. 

No  portion  of  the  globe  offers  more  decisive  evidence,  of 
having  been  occupied  for  many  ages  by  civilized  nations,  than 
the  southern  regions  of  North  America.  At  the  time  of  the 
discovery,  the  ancient  remains  in  the  United  States  were  de 
serted,  and  the  people,  by  whom  they  had  been  erected,  were 
apparently  extinct ;  so  that  the  question  of  their  origin  was  a 
subject  of  inquiry  to  the  antiquary,  rather  than  to  the  his 
torian.  In  the  vast  territory  at  the  south,  however,  another 
spectacle  was  presented :  there  the  Spanish  invaders  found  pop 
ulous  nations, — regularly  organized  states — aristocratical,  mo 
narchical  and  republican  forms  of  government, — established 
systems  of  law  and  religion — immense  cities,  rivalling  in  the 
style,  character  and  magnificence  of  their  edifices  and  temples, 
those  of  the  old  world ;  and  roads,  aqueducts  and  other  public 
W7orks,  seldom  excelled  in  massiveness,  durability,  and  grandeur. 
The  inhabitants  were  clothed,  the  soil  was  tilled,  many  of  the 
arts  had  been  carried  to  a  high  degree  of  advancement,  and 
their  knowledge  in  some  of  the  sciences  equalled,  if  not  sur 
passed  that  of  their  conquerors.  Guatemala  was  occupied  by 
many  distinct  tribes,  each  enjoying  its  own  peculiar  govern 
ment,  and  institutions ;  and  the  same  remark  applies  to  Yucatan, 
and  other  neighboring  countries.  That  extensive  tract  of  land 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  73 

known  as  Anahuac,  a  name  which  though  originally  limited 
to  the  vale  of  Mexico  was  subsequently  applied  to  most  of  the  re 
gion  formerly  denominated  New  Spain,  was  divided  into  several 
kingdoms  and  republics,  of  which  the  kingdom  of  Mexico  was 
the  most  powerful  and  extensive.*  Though  the  commencement 
of  this  empire  dates  in  the  year  1325,  when  the  city  of  Mexico 
was  founded,  yet  this  warlike  and  enterprising  people,  at  the 
conquest,  had  brought  under  their  sway  many  of  the  surround 
ing  nations,  and  their  dominions  reached  from  the  14th  to  the 
21st  degree  of  north  latitude,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pa 
cific  Ocean. 

With  these  facts  clearly  presented  to  us  in  history, — with 
these  evidences  of  the  existence  of  numerous  states,  advanced 
in  civilization,  and  in  the  arts,  it  may  appear  singular,  that  in 
so  short  a  period  as  three  hundred  years,  it  has  become  the 
part  of  the  antiquary,  to  pore  over  the  ruins  of  their  monu 
ments  j  as  if  to  gather  the  history  of  an  extinct  people.  But 
the  civilization  found  existent  there  was  of  a  peculiar  character ; 
the  great  mass  of  the  people  were  uncultivated;  society  was 
kept  in  a  state  of  order,  not  by  the  intelligence  of  the  people,  but 
by  their  veneration  for  their  rulers ;  the  public  records,  the  fes 
tivals,  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  even  agriculture,  were  all  com 
mitted  to  the  charge  and  direction  of  the  priesthood  ;  and  when 
their  governments  fell  before  the  assaults  of  their  invaders,  and 
their  religion  yielded  to  Catholic  zeal,  their  institutions  and 
civilization  perished  in  a  common  grave.  These  causes  alone, 
however,  are  not  sufficient  to  account  for  the  absolute  ruin  that 
befell  these  nations.  The  Spaniards  not  only  waged  a  war  of 

*  Clavigero,  vol.  i.  pp.  1,  123. 
10 


74  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

extermination  against  the  natives  themselves,  but,  from  various 
motives,  sought  to  obliterate  every  vestige  of  their  former  pow 
er,  and  opulence.  They  spared  neither  monuments  nor  records, 
and  strove  to  destroy  every  object,  that  might  preserve  to  a 
despised  race,  the  memory  of  what  they  had  been ;  or  that 
could  tend  to  make  them  cling  the  more  tenaciously  to  their  old 
institutions  and  customs.  Fortunately,  the  vast  extent  and 
dimensions,  and  the  solid  and  massive  character,  of  many  of 
these  monuments,  defied  all  attempts  to  destroy  them,  and  tri 
umphing  alike  over  time  and  violence,  they  still  serve  to  shed 
some  light  upon  the  history  of  their  authors.* 

Fresh  from  the  consideration  of  the  majestic  pyramidal  mounds 
of  the  United  States,  the  first  and  most  natural  objects  of  attention 
are  the  pyramids  of  Spanish  America,  the  most  ancient  and  the 
most  expressive  of  all  its  ruins. 

Pyramids.  The  finest  temple  of  the  city  of  Mexico  was  one 
of  the  victims  of  Spanish  bigotry,  and  for  a  description  of  this 
great  "  Teocalli,"f  we  are  compelled  to  resort  to  the  narratives 
of  the  conquerors. 

Its  location  was  in  the  central  square  of  the  city,  and  it  was 
dedicated  to  Tezcatlipoca,  the  first  of  the  gods  after  Teote  the 
Supreme  Being,  and  to  Huitzilopochtli  or  Mexitli,  "  the  God  of 
War."J  It  was  built  after  the  model  of  those  ancient  pyramids 

*  Some  of  the  idols  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  which  they  were  unable 
to  break,  were  deliberately  buried  in  the  earth ;  and  it  is  a  curious 
instance  of  the  tenacity  with  which  the  natives  have  adhered  to  their 
old  superstitions,  that  when  one  of  these  idols  was  recently  disinterred, 
the  Indians  secretly,  in  the  night  time,  crowned  it  with  garlands  of 
flowers.  t  "  House  of  God." 

J  Humboldt's  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  83.     De  Solis,  vol.  i.  p.  398. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  75 

supposed  to  have  been  founded  by  the  Toltecs,  and  had  been 
erected  but  a  short  period  before  the  landing  of  Cortez.  The 
main  building  was  surrounded  by  a  wall  of  hewn  stone,  upon 
which  were  sculptured  knots  of  serpents,  intertwined  together.. 
The  four  sides  of  this  wall  faced  the  cardinal  points  respectively, 
and  the  residences  of  (the  priests  were  immediately  adjacent  to 
it,  within.  In  the  middle  of  this  square  stood  the  Teocalli, 
constructed  of  clay,  and  covered  with  enormous  masses  of  hewn 
porous  amygdaloid.*  This  edifice  was  a  truncated  pyramid 
built  with  five  stories ;  its  sides  faced  the  cardinal  points ;  the 
line  of  its  base  was  three  hundred  and  eighteen  feet  long,  and 
its  perpendicular  elevation  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  feet.f 
Flights  of  stairs  led  to  its  superior  platform,  where  were  placed 
the  sacrificial  stone,  and  chapels  containing  the  idols  of  the 
gods.  Here  also  were  the  colossal  statues  of  the  sun  and 
moon,  formed  of  stone,  and  covered  with  plates  of  gold.J 
Eight  principal  temples,  of  similar  character,  are  said  to  have 
existed  within  the  city,  and  the  number  of  those  of  inferior 
dimensions  amounted  to  two  thousand.  This  picture  might 
seem  to  be  overdrawn,  were  there  not  sufficient  vestiges  re 
maining,  in  the  ruins  of  other  Teocallis,  to  attest  the  truth  of 
its  leading  features,  and  to  confirm  its  accuracy  by  extrinsic 
evidence.  § 

*  Humboldt's  Political  Essay,  vol.  ii.  pp.  15, 16. 

f  Fifty-four  metres  high  according  to  Humboldt  This  altitude' 
included  that  of  the  edifices  upon  its  summit. — Humboldt's  Researches, 
vol.  i.  p.  84. 

J  Humboldt's  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  86.    De  Solis,  vol.  ii.  p.  177. 

§  Waldeck  says,  "The  descriptions  of  the  Mexican  Teocalli 
are  very  contradictory.  Some  terra  cottas  represent  them  in  minia- 


76  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

The  most  remarkable  objects  still  existing,  within  the  limits 
of  the  city  of  Tezcuco,  in  Mexico,  are  the  remains  of  the  chief 
Teocalli,  some  of  the  stones  of  which  have  been  transferred  into 
the  pavements,  and  into  the  walls  of  dwellings,  betraying  their 
original  destination  and  use,  by  the  figures  of  animals,  hiero- 
glyphical  symbols,  and  other  ornaments,  sculptured  upon  them. 
The  base  of  this  pyramid  extended  over  an  area  four  hundred 
feet  square,  and  the  sides  rose  in  terraces,  some  of  which  are 
still  visible,  covered  with  a  hard  and  durable  cement.*  Though 
other  pyramidal  buildings  in  its  neighborhood  are  constructed 
of  brick,  this  appears  to  have  been  formed  of  enormous  masses 
of  basalt,  regularly  cut,  and  beautifully  polished. 

To  the  east  of  the  holy  city  of  Cholula,  still  stand  the  ruins 

ture,  and  on  a  great  number  of  them  I  have  always  counted  eleven 
steps  or  platforms.  There  is  great  resemblance  between  these 
terra  cottas  and  the  great  pyramid  of  Itzalan."  This  remark,  so  far 
as  it  refers  to  the  minor  details  of  these  structures,  is  accurate,  but  as 
to  their  leading  and  general  form  and  style,  there  is  certainly  a  great 
coincidence  in  all  the  accounts.  Torquemada  estimated  the  number 
of  temples  in  the  Mexican  Empire  at  forty  thousand,  and  Clavigero 
says  the  number  was  far  greater.  "  The  architecture  of  the  great 
temples,"  he  adds,  "was  for  the  most  part  the  same  with  that  of  the 
great  temple  of  Mexico ;  but  there  were  many  likewise  of  a  different 
structure — many  consisted  of  a  single  body  in  the  form  of  a  pyramid, 
with  a  staircase,"  etc. —  Clavigero,  vol.  i.  p.  269.  Gomara  says,  "  they 
had  almost  all  the  same  form,  so  that  what  we  shall  say  of  the  prin 
cipal  temple,  will  suffice  to  explain  all  the  others."  See  also  De  Solis, 
vol.  ii.  pp.  177,  214,  222.  Some  authors  represent  the  base  of  the 
Mexican  temple  to  have  been  of  greater  length  than  breadth,  like 
those  of  Teotihuacan. 

*  Modern  Traveller,  Mexico,  vol.  i.  p.  331. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  77 

of  the  celebrated  pyramid,  estimated  to  have  been  the  largest  in 
all  Mexico,  and  sacred  to  Quetzalcoatl,  the  "  God  of  the  Air." 
The  base  covered  an  area  double  that  of  the  Egyptian  pyramid 
of  Cheops,  being  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty-three 
feet  in  length ;  and  its  height  was  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
seven  feet,  ten  feet  higher  than  the  pyramid  of  Mycerinus.  It 
was  constructed  of  alternate  layers  of  clay  and  unburnt  brick, 
was  divided  into  four  separate  stories  or  stages,  and  ranged 
exactly  in  the  direction  of  the  cardinal  points.  The  passage  to 
the  summit  of  this  truncated  pyramid  appears  to  have  been 
made  originally  by  a  flight  of  steps,  one  hundred  and  twenty  in 
number.  An  ancient  tradition  maintained  that  this  pyramid 
was  hollow ;  which  has  since  been  verified,  and  a  vault  has  been 
discovered,  built  of  stone,  supported  by  beams  of  cypress  wood, 
and  containing  two  skeletons,  together  with  two  basaltic  idols, 
and  several  curious  vases.*  An  arrangement  of  the  bricks  has 
also  been  observed  in  its  internal  structure,  tending  to  lessen 
the  pressure  from  above,  by  such  a  disposition  as  to  make 
the  upper  course  overlap  the  under,  in  the  form  of  inverted 
steps — a  method  often  found  in  use  in  several  Egyptian  and 
other  ancient  edifices.  In  the  same  manner  as  the  pyramids  of 
Teotihuacan,  the  large  pyramid  was  surrounded  by  many  smaller 
ones,  the  ruins  of  which  still  faintly  appear  in  the  adjacent 
plain.f 

*  Humboldt's  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  91.  Modern  Traveller,  Mexi 
co,  vol.  i.  p.  252.  Humboldt's  Political  Essay  on  the  Kingdom  of  New 
Spain,  vol.  ii.  p.  120,  English  translation. 

f  Latrobe,  p.  205. 

Cortez,  in  a  letter  to  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  dated  October  30, 
1520,  says  he  counted  four  hundred  of  these  temples  at  Cholula. 


78  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

Near  Tacuba,  a  populous  city  at  the  conquest,  are  the  ruins 
of  an  ancient  pyramid,  constructed  with  layers  of  unburnt  brick 
in  regular  courses.*  In  the  vicinity  of  Huexotla  near  Tezcuco 
are  also  several  pyramids  built  with  layers  of  unburnt  brick, 
and  clay,  one  of  which  shows  appearances  of  having  been 
hollow,!  which  circumstance  was  discovered  by  part  of  it 
having  fallen  in. 

Xochicalco,  or  "  the  House  of  Flowers,"  is  situated  upon 
the  elevated  plain  of  Cuernavaca,  at  a  height  of  nearly  six 
thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.J  It  appears  to  be 
a  hill  formed  into  an  artificial  shape  by  human  labor,  and 
is  nearly  three  miles  in  circuit.  Its  base  is  encircled  by  a  moat 
or  ditch,  and  the  rocky  mass  is  cut  into  the  shape  of  a  truncated 
pyramid,  with  its  sides  corresponding  with  the  cardinal  points, 
and  divided  into  four  terraces.  The  intermediate  slopes  are 
covered  with  platforms,  bastions,  pyramidical  and  rectangular 
elevations  and  stages,  one  above  the  other,  all  faced  with  large 
porphyry  stones  admirably  cut,  but  joined  together  without 
cement :  the  perpendicular  height  is  estimated  to  be  from  three 
hundred  to  three  hundred  and  eighty  feet. 

Upon  the  north  part  of  the  upper  area  is  a  truncated  pyra 
mid  "  constructed  of  large  regularly  hewn  and  symmetrically 
laid  masses  of  hard  and  richly  sculptured  rock."  Its  base  is 
in  the  line  of  the  parallels  and  meridians,  and  is  about  fifty  feet 
in  length.  It  formerly  consisted,  as  is  stated,  of  seven  stories, 
portions  of  two  only  now  remaining.  The  construction  of  the 

*  Latrobe's  Rambler  in  Mexico,  p.  99. 
f  Modern  Traveller,  Mexico,  vol.  i.  p.  335. 

I  Latrobe's  Rambler  in  Mexico,  pp.  185,  190.  Humboldt's  Poli 
tical  Essay,  vol.  ii.  p.  45.  Modern  Traveller,  Mexico,  vol.  i.  p.  339. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  79 

stories  is  singularly  like  the  Egyptian  style  of  architecture, 
the  lower  parts  inclining  inwards  at  an  angle  of  15°,  for  a 
short  distance,  and  then  being  surmounted  with  perpendicular 
courses  projecting  over  the  inferior  portion.  Upon  the  stones 
of  this  pyramid  are  many  figures  sculptured  in  relief,  some 
representing  hieroglyphic  signs,  and  others  human  figures 
seated  cross  legged  in  the  Asiatic  manner,  and  crocodiles  spout 
ing  water.* 

It  is  probable  that  the  interior  of  this  monument  contains 
many  apartments,  as  it  is  ascertained  that  subterranean  cham 
bers  and  galleries  enter  deeply  into  the  side  of  the  hill.  Paved 
roads  or  causeways  run  from  different  points  of  the  compass  to 
the  base  of  "  the  House  of  Flowers,"  indicating,  whatever  was 
its  purpose,  that  it  was  the  resort  anciently  of  great  numbers 
of  people-! 

In  the  northern  part  of  the  former  Intendancy  of  Vera  Cruz, 
near  the  village  of  Papantla,  are  the  remains  of  another  pyramid, 
constructed  of  enormous  blocks  of  hewn  stone,  regularly  laid 
in  cement.  Each  side  of  its  quadrangular  base  is  eighty  feet  in 
length,  and  its  altitude  is  sixty  feet.  It  is  a  truncated  pyramid, 

*  These  stones  are  parallelepipeds,  and  the  reliefs  are  sculptured 
continuously  over  several  stones,  without  regard  to  the  joints,  whence 
it  has  reasonably  been  inferred  that  the  sculpture  was  executed  after 
the  erection  of  the  structure. — Humboldfs  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  112. 

f  There  has  arisen  much  discussion  whether  this  work  is  wholly 
artificial.  The  recent  observation  of  a  modern  traveller,  without  en 
tering  further  into  the  argument,  seems  to  decide  the  point,  as  "  its 
position  and  configuration  show  it  to  be  one  of  the  group  of  adjacent 
hills." — Latrobe's  Rambler  in  Mexico,  p.  185.  Xochitl  signifies  a 
flower. — Humboldfs  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  160. 


80  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

and  is  divided  into  seven  terraces :  three  staircases  lead  to  the 
top,  which  are  decorated  with  small  niches  supposed  to  have 
had  an  astronomical  use  or  signification.* 

To  the  north-east  of  the  Lake  of  Tezcuco,  eight  leagues 
from  the  city  of  Mexico,  are  the  two  pyramids  of  Teotihuacan, 
traditionally  sacred  to  the  sun  and  moon.f  The  larger  pyra 
mid,  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  the  sun,  is  one  hundred  and 
eighty  feet  in  height,  and  its  base  is  six  hundred  and  eighty-two 
feet  in  length  ;  and  the  pyramid  of  the  moon  is  about  one  hun 
dred  and  forty-five  feet  high.  Both  are  divided  into  four  stages, 
subdivided  into  smaller  steps,  and  stairs  of  hewn  stone  rose  to 
the  superior  platforms.  They  are  composed  of  clay  commingled 
with  small  stones,  and  are  faced  with  amygdaloid,  which  has 
been  coated  with  a  red  or  salmon-colored  cement  formed  of 
small  pebbles  and  lime. 

Upon  the  area  at  the  top  of  the  pyramid  of  the  moon,  are 
the  ruins  of  a  stone  edifice,  forty-seven  feet  long,  and  fourteen 
wide,  with  an  entrance  at  the  south. J  This  pyramid  has  an 
entrance  on  the  southern  face,  at  two-thirds  of  the  elevation, 
by  a  passage  inclining  downwards,  and  opening  into  a  gallery, 
at  the  end  of  which  are  two  wells  now  closed,  except  for  about 
the  distance  of  fifteen  feet.  The  wells  seem  to  be  in  the  centre 
of  the  edifice.§  Upon  the  summit  of  the  pyramid  of  the  sun 

*  Humboldt's  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  87.  Humboldi's  Political 
Essay,  vol.  ii.  p.  172. 

t  Humboldt's  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  85.  Humboldt's  Political 
Essay,  vol.  ii.  p.  42.  Modern  Traveller,  Mexico,  vol.  i.  pp.  330,  338. 

J  Latrobe's  Rambler  in  Mexico,  p.  160. 

§  Latrobe,  p.  161.    The  discovery  of  this  entrance,  were  it  an 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  81 

are  the  remains  of  broken  earthenware,  said  to  resemble 
closely  the  Chinese  patterns,  pieces  of  obsidian,  and  the  muti 
lated  bodies  of  idols.*  Indeed  obsidian  knives,  arrows,  and 
terra  cotta  heads,  abound  in  this  vicinity.  The  heads  have  a 
physiognomical  appearance  somewhat  unlike  that  of  the  present 
Indians,  being  remarkable  for  the  height  and  formation  of  the 
forehead,  and  for  a  curious  head-dress.  They  are  composed  of 
clay  well  tempered,  and  slightly  baked.  Around  these  pyra 
mids,  as  at  Cholula,  are  many  smaller  ones,  several  hundreds 
in  number,  arranged  in  parallel  lines  or  streets  running  in  the 
direction  of  the  cardinal  points,!  and  facing  the  sides  of  the 
pyramids  of  the  sun  and  moon.  These  are  generally  about 
thirty  feet  high,  and  by  tradition  were  said  to  have  been  sepul 
chres  for  the  chiefs  of  tribes,  and  to  have  been  dedicated  to  the 
stars.  A  broad  road  leads  from  the  southern  side  of  the  house 
of  the  moon,  passes  directly  before  the  western  face  of  the  house 
of  the  sun,J  and  then  bears  away  over  the  plains,  towards  the 
mountains. 

Besides  the  remains  of  the  pyramids  just  described,  many 

ancient  one,  would  indicate  that  some  reliance  is  to  be  placed 
upon  the  ancient  traditions ;  for,  according  to  one  of  these  mentioned 
by  the  early  travellers,  the  interior  of  these  pyramids  is  hollow ;  but 
it  is  possible  that  the  passage  entered  by  Mr.  Latrobe  is  the  work  of 
Siguenza,  who,  according  to  Boturini,  endeavored  to  pierce  these 
edifices  by  a  gallery. — See  Humboldfs  Political  Essay,  vol.  ii.  p.  42. 

*  Latrobe,  p.  161. 

f  "  The  faces  of  these  edifices  are  to  within  52'  exactly  placed 
from  north  to  south,  and  from  east  to  west." — Humboldfs  Political 
Essay,  vol.  ii.  p.  42. 

%  Tonatiuh  Ytzaqual — House  of  the  Sun ;  and  Mitzli  Ytzaqual — 
House  of  the  Moon. 

11 


82  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

others  are  to  be  observed  among  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  cities 
in  Mexico,  Central  America,  and  Yucatan.*  At  the  conquest 
there  was  no  place  of  any  importance,  but  what  boasted  of 
many  of  these  stupendous  edifices ;  and  the  narratives  of  the 
conquerors  are  filled  with  expressions  of  astonishment  at  their 
vastness  and  grandeur,  and  the  magnificence  and  splendor  of 
their  decorations.  Most  of  these,  and  in  particular  such  as  were 
of  inferior  size,  were  despoiled  and  overthrown  by  the  Span 
iards  ;  while  those  more  ancient  structures  which  served  as  their 
models, — the  pyramids  of  Cholula  and  of  Teotihuacan, — proba 
bly  from  their  enormous  dimensions,  escaped  the  general  ruin. 
An  idea  of  the  fearful  system  of  indiscriminate  destruction  pur 
sued  by  the  invaders  may  be  gathered  from  the  letter  of  Cortez 
to  Charles  V.,  in  which,  speaking  of  the  plan  adopted  for  the 
subjugation  of  the  city  of  Mexico,  he  says :  "  I  formed  the  de 
sign  of  demolishing  on  all  sides,  all  the  houses,  in  proportion  as 
we  became  masters  of  the  streets,  so  that  we  should  not  advance 
a  foot,  without  having  destroyed  and  cleared  down  whatever  was 
behind  us"  Thus  continually,  in  the  examination  of  these 
ancient  monuments,  are  we  called  to  lament  that  barbarian 

*  Mr.  Lyon  describes  some  near  Panuco,  which  were  from  thirty 
to  forty  feet  high. — Lyon's  Tour,  p.  55.  Many  ruins  of  sepulchral 
mounds  are  to  be  seen  in  Yucatan. — Humboldt's  Political  Essay,  vol. 
ii.  p.  162.  At  the  south  side  of  Merida  are  the  ruins  of  a  Teocalli 
upon  which  a  fort  has  been  erected.  Many  of  the  houses  of  Merida 
have  been  constructed  with  fragments  of  the  pyramids.  In  the  base 
of  one  of  these  monuments  a  tomb  has  been  opened  and  found  to 
contain  the  bones  of  the  tapir  and  of  some  other  mammiferous  pachy- 
dermata:  upon  the  remains  of  another,  the  Convent  of  St.  Francisco 
has  been  built —Waldeck,  pp.  18,  23,  55. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  83 

fury,  which  in  the  heat  of  conquest  was  restrained  from  no  ex 
cess  f  and  even  to  share  and  sympathize  in  the  feelings  of  the 
poor  vanquished  Indians,  as  they  saw  the  objects  of  their  deep 
est  reverence  levelled  with  the  dust. 

Ancient  cities  and  other  ruins.  From  the  causes  just  alluded 
to,  as  well  as  from  the  'gradual  depopulation,  and  finally,  the 
abandonment  of  many  important  cities  whose  sites  are  now  only 
conjecturally  known,  but  a  faint  conception  can  be  obtained  at 
the  present  period  of  their  former  size  and  numbers.  The  old 
writers,  many  of  whom  were  eye-witnesses,  whose  accounts 
were  given  after  a  long  residence  in  this  country,  give  us  a  high 
idea  of  its  ancient  population.  Clavigero  has  collected  these 
testimonies  with  exceedingly  great  industry,  and  has  succeeded 
in  establishing  that  this  portion  of  the  continent  was  occupied 
by  populous  nations,  whose  numbers  were  so  great  that  in  the 
vicinity  of  their  towns,  according  to  Cortez, <(  not  a  foot  of  the 
soil  was  left  uncultivated,"  and  whose  cities  were  not  only  nu 
merous,  but  contained,  some  of  them,  from  thirty  to  sixty  thou 
sand  houses. 

Tezcuco.  The  ruins  of  this  city,  which  with  its  suburbs  was 
even  larger  than  Mexico,  and  according  to  Torquemada  con 
tained  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  houses,  still  betoken  an 
ancient  place  of  great  importance  and  magnificence.  Without 
the  walls,  tumuli,  the  sepulchres  of  the  former  inhabitants,  may . 
yet  be  observed,  and  also  the  remains  of  a  fine  aqueduct  in  a  suffi 
cient  state  of  preservation  for  present  use.  Within  the  city  limits, 
excavations  have  developed  the  foundations  of  large  edifices,  and 
every  surrounding  object  points  it  out  to  the  traveller,  as  the  for 
mer  residence  of  a  numerous,  and  cultivated  population.*  In  its 

*  Latrobe,  p.  141.    Modern  Traveller,  Mexico,  vol.  i.  p.  331. 


84  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

vicinity  there  is  a  conical  hill,  rich  in  antiquities,  covered  to 
the  very  summit  with  the  massive  ruins  of  splendid  buildings, 
and  perforated  with  artificial  excavations.  The  sides  of  this 
elevation  are  terraced  in  some  places  with  solid  masonry-work, 
in  other  parts  the  terraces  are  cut  into  the  rock,  and  the  exterior 
of  the  whole  has  been  covered  with  cement,  or  stucco-work. 
The  walls  of  one  large  building  are  yet  partly  standing,  and  a 
reservoir  is  perceived  which  supplied  it  with  water.  But  the 
most  singular  object  connected  with  this  mountain  of  ruins, 
is  a  specimen  of  art,  which  without  any  sufficient  reason  has 
been  denominated  traditionally  "  Montezuma's  Bath."*  This 
piece  of  workmanship  is  excavated  from  the  side  of  a  cliff,  and 
projects  beyond  it "  like  a  martin's  nest."  It  is  a  beautiful  basin 
about  twelve  feet  long  by  eight  wide,  having  a  well  five  feet  in 
diameter  and  four  deep  in  the  centre,  surrounded  by  a  parapet  two 
feet  and  a  half  high,  with  a  throne  or  chair  placed  near  it,  such 
as  is  represented  in  ancient  pictures,  to  have  been  used  by  the 
kings.  Steps  descend  into  the  bath,  and  the  whole  is  cut  out 
of  the  living  porphyry  rock  with  mathematical  precision,  and 
polished  in  the  most  beautiful  manner.f  Commanding  a  pic 
turesque  prospect  of  the  fine  valley  of  Mexico,  its  lakes  and 
city,  a  more  enchanting  spot  for  the  luxury  of  the  bath  cannot 
well  be  imagined.  But  it  is  more  than  doubtful  whether  such 
'  was  its  object,  and  it  has  been  suggested  with  much  probability 
that  it  served  for  an  astronomical  purpose.{ 

*  Latrobe,  p.  141. 

f  Modern  Traveller,  Mexico,  vol.  i.  p.  334. 

J  A  recent  traveller  varies  in  his  account  rather  widely  from  this 
description,  particularly  with  regard  to  its  dimensions,  and  he  states 
very  positively  that  it  could  not  have  been  a  bath,  or  rather  that  it  is 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  85 

Huexotla.  Two  miles  from  Tezcuco,  the  village  of  Huexotla, 
situated  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  city  of  that  name,  which  was 
considered  as  one  of  the  suburbs  of  Tezcuco,  exhibits  signs  of 
ancient  civilization,  in  the  foundations  of  large  edifices,  in  mas 
sive  aqueducts,  one  of  which,  covered  with  rose-colored  cement, 
still  exists  in  a  perfect  state,  and  in  an  extensive  wall  of  great 
height  and  thickness.*  A  covered  way  flanked  by  parallel 
walls  proceeds  from  the  ancient  city,  to  the  bed  of  a  stream 
now  dry,  over  which  there  is  a  remarkable  bridge,  with  a 
pointed  archf  forty  feet  high,  and  supported  on  one  side  by  a 
pyramidal  mass  of  masonry.J 

Mitlan.  In  the  district  of  Zapoteca,  ten  leagues  from  Oaxa- 
ca,  occur  the  ruins  of  Mitlan,  consisting  originally  of  five  edi 
fices  symmetrically  arranged.  The  approach  is  made  by  a 
gateway,  which  opens  upon  a  court  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
square  surrounded  by  four  oblong  buildings,  in  one  of  which 
the  remains  of  two  columns  are  still  visible.  The  fifth  and 
largest  edifice,  which  has  best  withstood  the  ravages  of  time, 
is  placed  upon  a  terrace  or  elevated  platform  rising  above  the 
court :  it  is  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  in  length,  and  con 
tains  a  spacious  hall,  whose  roof  of  savine  wood  is  supported 
by  six  monolithic  porphyry  columns,  nineteen  feet  high,  des 
titute  of  capitals,  and  slightly  contracted  at  the  summit.  The 

too  small  for  any  other  use,  than  a  foot  bath. — Latrobe's  Rambler  in 
Mexico,  p.  141. 

*  Modern  Traveller,  Mexico,  vol.  i.  p.  335. 

f  Latrobe,  p.  139. 

|  The  Mexicans  constructed  bridges  of  stone,  and  Clavigero 
mentions  the  remains  of  "  large  and  strong  pilasters"  which  supported 
the  bridge  over  the  river  Tula. —  Clavigero^  vol.  ii.  p.  371. 


86  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

architecture  •  is  all  of  a  solid  character,  the  doorway  of  this 
hall  being  covered  by  a  single  stone  twelve  feet  long.  From 
an  inner  court  of  this  building,  a  broad  flight  of  steps  leads 
to  two  subterranean  apartments,  arranged  in  the  form  of  a 
cross,  and  supported  by  columns.  Each  of  these  excavated 
galleries,  which  intersect  each  other  at  right  angles,  is  eighty- 
two  feet  long  and  twenty-six  broad,  and  they  are  decorated  with 
Greek  and  arabesque  ornaments.  The  exterior  walls  of  the 
upper  apartments  are  similarly  embellished,  while  their  interior 
surface  is  covered  with  paintings,  representing  weapons,  tro 
phies,  and  sacrifices.  The  arabesques  are  formed  in  a  species  of 
mosaic  work  made  with  small  square  porphyry  stones  imbed 
ded  in  clay,  and  the  Greek  ornaments  are  supposed  by  Humboldt, 
to  have  a  striking  analogy  to  those  of  the  Etruscan  Vases.* 

Palenque.  In  Chiapa,  near  the  village  of  San  Domingo 
Palenque,  are  the  ruins  of  a  city,  which  it  is  said  can  be  traced 
over  an  area  six  or  seven  leagues  in  circumference.!  The  part 
of  these  remains  which  exists  in  the  most  perfect  state,  has 
received  the  name  of  "  Casas  de  Piedras,"  or  the  StoneJHouses.J 
These  edifices  are  fourteen  in  number,  and  are  erected  upon  an 

*  Humboldt's  Political  Essay,  vol.  ii.  p.  155.  Researches,  vol.  id. 
p.  152. 

f  Description  of  the  Ruins  of  an  Ancient  City,  discovered  near 
Palenque,  by  Captain  Don  Antonio  Del  Rio,  p.  4. 

Del  Rio  and  Dupaix  have  given  Palenque  a  circuit  of  seven  leagues, 
while  its  remains,  according  to  Waldeck,  occupy  at  the  most  a  surface 
of  but  one  league  in  extent.  "  If  its  extent,"  says  Waldeck,  "  had 
been  more  considerable,  I  should  have  discovered  it  in  a  sojourn  of 
twelve  years." —  Waldeck,  p.  68.  Juarros  describes  the  remains  of 
the  city  as  occupying  a  site  six  leagues  in  circumference. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  87 

elevated  ridge  of  land  rising  from  the  river  Micol,  and  its  branch 
the  Otolum.  A  rectangular  area,  three  hundred  yards  by  four  hun 
dred  and  fifty,  presents  a  plain  surface  at  the  foot  of  one  of  the 
larger  mountains  of  the  neighboring  group.  Around  this  square 
the  buildings  are  disposed,  five  on  the  north  side,  four  on  the 
south,  one  on  the  south-west,  and  three  on  the  east, — while  in 
all  directions,  the  fragments  of  fallen  edifices  and  monumental 
stones  are  to  be  seen  extending  several  leagues  along  the  base 
of  the  mountain.  The  largest  structure  is  situated  in  the  mid 
dle  of  the  square,  upon  a  mound  sixty  feet  in  height.  Beneath 
it  runs  an  aqueduct  of  stone,  constructed  with  the  greatest 
solidity.*  The  architecture  of  this  edifice  is  on  a  scale  of  great 
magnitude.  The  ascent  to  the  summit  of  the  mound  and  the 
entrance  of  the  building  were  upon  the  east  side.  The  four 
sides  had  corridors  or  porticoes,  the  roofs  of  which  were 
supported  by  plain  rectangular  pillars,  without  bases,  and 
crowned  by  square  blocks  of  stone,f  above  which  were  long 
blocks  of  stone  stretching  from  column  to  column ;  these  were 
covered  on  their  outer  surface  writh  designs  in  stucco  wrork. 
From  each  of  these  porticoes  there  was  an  entrance  to  cham 
bers,  whose  walls  were  ornamented  with  medallions  or  com 
partments  in  stucco,  alternating  with  niched  windows.  Some 
of  the  medallions  appear  to  have  contained  a  series  of  busts 
and  heads  various  in  their  expression  and  form ;  in  those  of 
the  western  chamber,  the  device  being  a  species  of  grotesque 
mask,  with  a  crown  and  long  beard,  under  which  are  two 
crosses  one  within  the  other.  The  arrangement  of  the  other 
apartments  seems  to  have  been  somewhat  irregular.  Among 

*  Del  Rio,  p.  4.  f  Ibid.  p.  9. 


88  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

them  are  two  rooms,  denominated  oratories,  adorned  with 
designs  in  stucco,  and  containing  statues  ornamented  with 
strings  of  jewels.  In  other  chambers  we  find  various  devices 
and  sculptures  of  a  curious  character,  and  of  admirable  execu 
tion.  In  the  subterranean  vaults  constructed  beneath,  which 
are  destitute  of  architectural  or  plastic  ornaments,  there  are 
horizontal  slabs  of  stone,  seven  feet  by  four,  placed  upon  four 
square  stands  of  masonry  rising  about  half  a  yard  above  the 
floor.  Within  an  open  court  in  the  middle  of  the  whole  pile 
of  buildings,  stands  a  pyramidal  tower  of  four  stories,  and  fifty 
feet  in  height,  within  which  is  another  tower,  with  windows 
facing  those  of  the  exterior  one,  and  with  a  flight  of  stairs  lead 
ing  to  the  summit. 

The  remaining  thirteen  edifices  appear  to  have  been  con 
structed  in  a  corresponding  style.  The  one  to  the  south-west 
is  situated  upon  an  eminence  forty  yards  high,  and  its  stucco 
ornaments  are  remarkable  for  the  representations  of  female 
figures,  delineated  as  headless,  and  carrying  children  in  their 
arms.  The  four  southern  buildings  are  erected  likewise 
upon  elevations,  and  three  of  them  contain  oratories.  The 
pavements  or  floors  of  these  oratories  upon  excavation,  were 
found  to  contain,  first,  an  earthen  vessel,  and  second,  a 
circular  stone,  beneath  which  were  two  small  pyramids 
with  the  figure  of  a  heart  in  dark  crystallized  stone,  a  lance 
head,  and  two  covered  earthen  jars  holding  some  substance 
of  a  vermilion  color.*  The  designs  in  stucco,  the  bas  reliefs 
and  sculpture,  observed  so  frequently  in  these  ruins,  represent 

*  Vases  or  urns  containing  bones,  together  with  burnt  bricks  and 
mortar,  were  also  found. — Del  /?io,  p.  20. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  89 

a  great  variety  of  figures,  most  of  them  appareled,  and  deco 
rated  with  pearl  necklaces,  caps  and  helmets  adorned  with 
flowers,  and  a  multitude  of  other  ornaments.  A  peculiarity  at 
tends  all  the  human  representations  in  the  great  size  of  the  nose, 
a  remarkable  protrusion  of  the  under  lip,  and  the  absence  of  a 
beard.  Other  relievos  exhibit  human  sacrifices,*  hieroglyphi- 
cal  symbols,  and  men  dancing  with  palm-leaves  in  their  hands. 
One  figure,  presumed  to  be  a  deity,  is  sitting  in  Hindoo  style, 
upon  a  throne  ornamented  on  each  side  with  the  enormous 
head  and  claws  of  an  animal,  and  another  seated  cross-legged 
upon  a  two-headed  monster,  is  receiving  an  offering  from  a  man 
in  a  kneeling  attitude  ;  and  it  is  observed  of  all  these  representa 
tions  that  every  appearance  of  martial  instruments  seems  to  be 
wanting.  It  may  be  added  that  some  of  the  windows  of  these 
buildings  are  in  the  form  of  the  Greek  cross,f  and  that  on  the 
wall  of  one  of  the  apartments  is  a  tablet  of  sculptured  stone,  ex 
hibiting  the  figure  of  a  large  and  richly  ornamented  cross 
placed  upon  an  altar  or  pedestal.J  A  priest  stands  on  one 
side  in  the  attitude  of  adjuration,  and  on  the  other  side  appears 
another  priest  presenting  some  offering, — it  has  been  supposed, 
a  young  child.  Upon  the  top  of  the  cross  is  seated  a  sacred  bird, 

which  has  two  strings  of  beads  around  its  neck,  from  which  is 

/ 
suspended  something  in  the  shape  of  a  hand,  probably  intended 

to  denote  the  manitas.  This  curious  flower  was  the  production 
of  the  tree  called  by  the  Mexicans,  macphalxochitl,  or  "  flower 
of  the  hand."§  It  resembled  the  tulip,  but  the  pistil  was  in  the 
form  of  a  bird's  foot,  with  six  fingers  terminated  with  as  many 
nails.  1 1 

*  Del  Rio,  p.  11.          f  Del  Rio,  pp.  9, 10.         }  Del  Rio,  Plates. 
§  The  Cheirosteinon  platanoides.  ||  Clavigero,  vol.  i.  p.  19. 

12 


90  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

Patinamit. — The  once  strong  and  opulent  city  of  Patinamit, 
in  Guatemala,  was  situated  upon  an  elevated  plain  of  great  ex 
tent.  Upon  one  side  of  a  spacious  square,  within  its  limits,  were 
the  remains  of  an  edifice  one  hundred  paces  in  length,  constructed 
of  hewn  stone ;  opposite  to  which  stood  the  ruins  of  a  magnifi 
cent  palace.  A  fosse  nine  feet  deep  with  a  wall  of  mason-work, 
now  three  feet  high,  bisects  the  city  from  north  to  south,  and 
is  said  formerly  to  have  separated  the  residences  of  the  higher 
and  lower  orders.  The  streets  were  broad  and  straight,  intersect 
ing  each  other  at  right  angles.  A  deep  natural  trench  sur 
rounds  the  whole  city,  the  sole  entrance  having  been  made 
over  a  narrow  causeway,  through  a  gateway  formed  of  the 
chaya  stone.* 

Zacatecas. — Several  miles  to  the  north  of  Villa  Nueva  in  the 
province  of  Zacatecas,  and  about  fourteen  leagues  to  the  south 
ward  of  the  city  of  Zacatecas,  occur  extensive  ruins,  among  which 
are  buildings  still  standing, nearly  entire, called  "Los  Edificios."f 
They  are  situated  upon  the  south,  east,  and  west  sides  of  a 
mountain  or  steep  and  abrupt  rock,  which  has  been  cut  with 
great  labor  into  artificial  terraces.  This  ancient  city  was  approach 
ed  from  the  south-west  by  a  causeway  ninety-three  feet  broad, 
which  commences  at  an  enclosure  containing  about  six  acres 
and  surrounded  by  a  broad  wall,  of  which  the  foundations  are 
still  visible  running  first  to  the  south  and  afterwards  to  the 
east.  Off  the  south-western  angle  of  this  enclosure,  stands  a  high 
mass  of  stones,  which  also  flanks  the  entrance  to  the  causeway. 
In  its  present  ruined  appearance  this  tower  is  of  a  pyramidal 

*  Description  of  Fuentes,  A.  D.  1700,  cited  in  Mod.  Trav.  Mexico, 
vol.  ii.  p.  271. 

t  Lyon's  Journal  of  a  Tour  in  Mexico,  vol.  i.  pp.  225,  226,  &c. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  91 

form,  but  on  close  examination  its  figure  can  be  traced  by  the 
remains  of  solid  walls,  to  have  been  a  square  of  thirty-one  feet  at 
the  base,  and  of  the  same  height.  On  the  other  side  of  the  cause 
way  is  a  similar  tower  more  injured  and  decayed.  From  this 
spot  the  causeway  runs  to  the  north-east,  the  distance  of  four 
hundred  yards,  where  it  reaches  the  foot  of  the  cliff.  At  this 
point  two  other  towers,  similar  to  those  described  at  the  en 
trance  of  the  causeway,  may  be  observed ;  these  probably 
guarded  the  inner  entrance  to  the  citadel.  In  the  middle  of 
the  causeway,  which  is  raised  about  a  foot  and  has  its  rough 
pavement  still  uninjured,  is  a  large  heap  of  stones,  as  if  the  re 
mains  of  an  altar,  around  which  may  be  traced  a  paved  border 
of  flat  slabs  arranged  in  the  figure  of  a  six-rayed  star. 

As  you  ascend  into  the  city,  the  first  object  striking  the  atten 
tion,  is  a  quadrangle  two  hundred  and  forty  feet  by  two  hundred, 
which  to  the  east  is  sheltered  by  a  strong  wall  of  unhewn  stones 
eight  feet  in  thickness  and  eighteen  in  height.  A  raised  terrace 
twenty  feet  in  width  passes  around  the  northern  and  eastern  sides 
of  this  quadrangle;  on  the  south-east  corner  of  the  eastern  terrace 
is  yet  standing  a  round  pillar  of  rough  stones,  eighteen  feet  high 
and  nineteen  feet  in  circumference,  and  there  appear  to  have  been 
five  other  pillars  on  the  eastern,  and  four  on  the  northern  terrace.* 

From  the  eastern  side  of  this  quadrangle  you  enter  another, 
entirely  surrounded  by  perfect  walls  of  the  same  height  and  thick 
ness  as  those  of  the  former  one,  and  measuring  one  hundred  and 
fifty-four  feet  by  one  hundred  and  thirty -seven.  In  this  are  yet 
standing  fourteen  very  well  constructed  pillars,  of  equal  dimen 
sions  with  that  in  the  adjoining  enclosure,  and  arranged  four 

*  Lyon's  Journal  of  a  Tour  in  Mexico,  vol.  i.  p.  227. 


92  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

in  length  and  three  in  breadth  of  the  quadrangle,  from  which 
on  every  side  they  separate  a  space  of  twenty-three  feet  in 
width,  probably  the  pavement  of  a  portico,  of  which  they  once 
supported  the  roof.  In  their  construction,  as  well  as  in  that  of 
all  the  walls  of  these  ruins,  a  common  clay,  having  straw  mixed 
with  it,  has  been  used  as  a  cement. 

About  three  hundred  yards  to  the  northward  of  these  quad 
rangles,  is  a  perfect,  square,  flat-topped  pyramid  of  large  un 
hewn  stones,  standing  unattached  to  any  other  buildings,  at 
the  foot  of  the  eastern  brow  of  the  mountain,  which  rises  ab 
ruptly  behind  it.  Its  base  measures  fifty  feet,  and  its  height 
precisely  the  same.  Off  the  south-east  corner  of  this  pyramid, 
and  at  about  fifteen  yards  distance,  is  to  be  seen  the  edge  of  a 
circle  of  stones,  eight  feet  in  diameter,  enclosing  a  bowl-shaped 
pit,  in  which  the  action  of  fire  is  still  plainly  visible, — the  earth 
containing  soot  and  ashes  mixed  with  pieces  of  broken  pottery. 

At  the  distance  of  one  hundred  yards  south-west  of  this 
pyramid,  is  a  small  one,  twelve  feet  square,  much  injured,  and 
situated  on  somewhat  higher  ground,  in  the  steep  part  of  the 
ascent  to  the  mountain's  brow.  On  its  eastern  face,  which  is 
towards  the  declivity,  the  height  is  eighteen  feet,  and  apparently 
there  have  been  steps  by  which  to  descend  thence,  to  a  quad 
rangular  space,  extending  east  one  hundred  feet  by  a  width  of 
fifty,  and  surrounded  by  a  broad  terrace.  In  the  middle  of  this 
enclosure  is  another  bowl-shaped  pit  somewhat  wider  than  the 
first. 

This  quadrangle  and  the  pyramids,  just  described  are  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  mountain,  in  the  ascent  of  which,  other  ruins 
are  encountered.  On  this  eastern  face  is  a  platform  twenty- 
eight  feet  wide,  faced  by  a  parapet  wall ;  and  from  the  base  of 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  93 

this  wall  extends  a  second  platform  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
feet  wide,  with  a  similar  parapet.  These  form  the  outer  defen 
sive  works  of  the  mountain,  which  from  its  figure  has  materially 
favored  their  construction.  From  this  eastern  face  a  slightly 
raised  and  paved  causeway,  about  twenty-five  feet  in  width, 
descends  across  the  valley  in  the  direction  of  the  rising  sun,  and 
being  continued  on  the  opposite  side  of  a  stream  which  flows 
through  it,  can  be  traced  up  the  mountains  at  two  miles  dis 
tance,  until  it  terminates  at  the  base  of  an  immense  stone 
edifice.* 

In  the  ascent  to  the  edifices  upon  the  mountain,  a  well  but 
tressed,  but  ruined  wall  is  passed.  This  is  a  double  wall,  one 
ten  feet  wide,  having  been  first  constructed,  and  then  covered 
with  a  very  smooth  kind  of  cement;  after  which  the  second  has 
been  built  against  it.  Its  height  on  the  steepest  side  is  twenty- 
one  feet,  and  the  width  on  the  summit,  which  is  level  with  an 
extensive  platform,  is  the  same.  This  platform  faces  the  south, 
measures  eighty-nine  feet  by  seventy-two,  and  on  its  northern 
side  stand  the  ruins  of  a  square  building,  having  within  it  an 
open  space,  in  the  middle  of  which  rises  a  mound  of  stones,  eight 
feet  in  height. 

A  little  further  on  from  this  platform,  there  is  an  entrance, 
by  a  broad  opening  between  two  very  perfect  and  massive 
walls,  to  a  square  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  surrounded  on 
the  south,  east,  and  west,  by  an  elevated  terrace,  having  in  the 
middle  of  each  side  steps  whereby  to  descend  into  the  square. 
On  the  south  of  this  square  are  two  broad  entrances, — on  the 
east,  is  another  thirty  feet  in  width,  communicating  with  a  per 
fect  enclosed  square  of  two  hundred  feet ;  and  on  the  west  is  a 

*  Lyon's  Journal,  vol.  i.  p..  229. 


94  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

small  opening,  leading  to  an  artificial  cave  or  dungeon.*  To 
the  north,  the  square  is  bounded  by  the  steep  mountain,  and  in 
the  middle  of  that  side  stands  a  pyramid  with  seven  stages, 
which  in  many  places  are  quite  perfect.  It  is  flat-topped,  has 
four  sides,  and  measures  at  the  base  thirty- eight  by  thirty-five 
feet,  while  its  height  is  nineteen.  Immediately  behind  this 
pyramid,  and  on  all  that  portion  of  the  hill  which  faces  the 
square,  are  numerous  tiers  of  seats,  either  cut  in  the  rock,  or 
built  of  rough  stones.  In  the  middle  of  the  square,  and  due  south 
of  the  pyramid,  is  a  small  quadrangular  building,  five  feet  high, 
which  it  has  been  supposed  was  an  altar. 

On  the  west  of  this  square  are  the  remains  of  an  aqueduct, 
and  the  entrance  to  the  cavern  before  alluded  to.  This  en 
trance  is  narrow,  well  built  with  burnt  brick,  and  smoothly 
plastered,  but  in  consequence  of  the  removal  of  some  beams  of 
wood  that  supported  the  roof,  it  has  fallen  in,  and  become 
impassable.  The  cave,  it  has  been  thought,  was  a  place  of 
confinement  for  victims,  who  were  sacrificed  in  the  great  square 
just  described,  and  then  precipitated  down  a  cliff  in  its  immedi 
ate  vicinity.  "  A  road  or  causeway  terminates  at  the  foot  of 
this  precipice,  exactly  beneath  the  cave,  and  overhanging  rock  ; 
and  conjecture  can  find  no  other  idea  of  its  intended  utility, 
unless  as  being  in  some  manner  connected  with  the  purpose  of 
the  dungeon." 

From  this  point  the  ascent  conducts  to  numerous  other 
buildings,  and  to  several  tanks,  constructed  with  great  care  and 
strength.  From  the  summit  of  the  rock,  there  may  be  distinctly 
traced  three  straight  and  very  extensive  causeways  diverging 
from  the  causeway  first  described.  The  most  remarkable  of 
these,  which  is  forty-six  feet  in  \vidth,  commences  at  a  high 

*  Lyon's  Journal  of  a  Tour  in  Mexico,  vol.  i.  r>.  232. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  95 

and  long  artificial  mound,  immediately  beyond  the  river,  to 
wards  the  Hacienda  of  La  Quemada,  runs  south-west  for  two 
miles,  and  crossing  the  grand  causeway  is  continued  to  the  foot 
of  the  cliff,  immediately  beneath  the  cave.  The  second  may  be 
traced  south-south-west  four  miles,  and  the  third,  north-west  by 
south  still  further,  ceasing,  as  is  reported,  at  some  mountain  six 
miles  distant.  All  these  roads  are  slightly  raised,  are  perfectly 
straight,  and  paved  with  rough  stones. 

On  the  summit  of  a  rock  terminating  the  ridge,  about  half  a 
mile  to  the  north-west  of  these  ruins,  are  other  buildings : 
among  them  there  may  be  distinguished  a  regular  pyramid, 
with  sloping  sides,  a  square  base,  and  flat  top,  and  with  steps 
in  the  middle  of  its  southern  face,  by  which  to  ascend  to  the 
summit ;  and  also  massive  walls,  long  mounds  of  stone,  and  a 
small  square  pyramid  with  three  steps  or  terraces. 

In  the  vicinity,  the  remains  of  plaster  have  been  found,  and 
porphyry  arrow-heads,  but  no  fragments  of  obsidian.  An  im 
mense  block  of  porphyry  is  pointed  out,  called  "Piedra  del 
Monarca,"  on  which  there  is  a  natural  or  artificial  indentation, 
somewhat  resembling  the  print  of  a  naked  foot,  which,  as  the 
tradition  runs,  has  been  caused  by  actual  pressure.* 

*  This  description  has  been  taken,  with  great  freedom,  from 
Captain  Lyon's  valuable  account,  and  has  been  rather  minutely  tran 
scribed,  from  the  circumstance  that  it  presents  evidence  of  the  ex 
istence  of  ruins  far  to  the  north  of  Mexico,  which  are  analogous  to 
those  in  Central  America  and  Yucatan :  for  which  reason  also  it  has 
been  placed  in  the  text  so  as  to  facilitate  immediate  comparison  with 
the  latter.  M.  Joseph  Burkart  also  visited  these  ruins,  during  his 
residence  in  Mexico,  and  in  his  opinion,  they  "  date  their  origin  from  a 
jriod  long,  very  long  before  the  conquest  of  Mexico  by  the  Spaniards." 


96  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

Copan. — In  Honduras,  on  the  right  or  northern  bank  of  the 
river  Copan,  a  tributary  of  the  Motagua,  are  the  ruins  of  the 
ancient  city  of  Copan.  The  remains  of  fallen  buildings  are  to 
be  observed  extending  along  the  river  for  two  miles;  and 
among  these,  at  an  elevation  of  forty  yards  above  the  water, 
and  standing  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  city,  is  a  large 
edifice,  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards  long  from  north  to  south,  and 
two  hundred  yards  broad  from  east  to  west.  Its  base  appears  to 
have  been  an  elevated  terrace,  accessible  from  the  exterior,  on 
three  of  its  sides,  by  stone  steps,  which  in  some  parts  are  in  a 
state  of  ruin.  After  ascending  these,  there  is  a  descent  by 
flights  of  stairs  into  a  square  in  the  middle  of  the  edifice,  twenty 
yards  above  the  level  of  the  river :  a  gallery  scarcely  four  feet 
high  and  two  and  a  half  broad  leads  from  this  square,  through 
a  more  elevated  part  of  the  building  overhanging  the  river,  to 
an  opening  on  the  face  of  the  precipice.  Among  many  exca 
vations,  one  made  at  the  entrance  of  this  gallery  disclosed  a 
sepulchral  vault,  more  than  six  feet  high,  ten  feet  long,  and  five 
and  a  half  broad,  and  lying  due  north  and  south  according  to 
the  compass.  Upon  each  of  its  sides  there  were  two  niches, 
which,  as  well  as  the  floor  of  the  vault,  were  full  of  red  earth 
enware  dishes  and  pots,  many  of  them  filled  with  human  bones 
packed  in  lime.  The  floor  of  the  vault  was  constructed  of  solid 
stone  coated  with  lime,  and  was  strewed  with  fragments  of 
bones.  Among  the  articles  found  in  this  chamber  were  knives 
of  chaya,  stalactites,  marine  shells;  and  a  small  head,  appa 
rently  representing  death,  its  eyes  being  nearly  shut  and  the 
lower  features  distorted  :  it  was  of  exquisite  workmanship,  and 
"  cut  out  or  cast  from  a  fine  stone  covered  with  green  enamel." 

The  most  remarkable  objects  in  these  ruins  are  stone  col- 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  97 

umns,  ten  or  eleven  feet  high  and  about  three  broad,  with  a  less 
thickness,  seven  of  which  are  standing  entire,  and  numerous 
others  fallen  and  destroyed.  Upon  one  side  of  these  obelisks 
were  wrought  in  low  relief  human  figures,  sculptured  with  a 
full  front  and  with  their  hands  resting  on  their  breast :  "  they 
are  dressed  with  caps  on  their  heads,  and  sandals  on  their  feet, 
and  clothed  in  highly  adorned  garments,  generally  reaching  half 
way  down  the  thigh,  but  sometimes  in  long  pantaloons."  The 
back  and  sides  of  the  obelisks  generally  contain  hieroglyphics 
in  square  tablets ;  and  opposite  these  monuments,  at  a  distance 
of  three  or  four  yards,  was  commonly  placed  a  stone  table  or 
altar.  One  of  these  altars,  in  the  temple,  which  is  two  feet  four 
inches  high  and  four  feet  ten  inches  square,  contains  upon  its 
top  forty-nine  square  tablets  of  hieroglyphics ;  and  its  four  sides 
are  occupied  by  sixteen  human  figures  in  low  relief,  sitting 
cross-legged  on  cushions  carved  in  the  stone,  with  fans  in  their 
hands. 

"  Monstrous  figures  are  found  amongst  the  ruins ;  one  rep 
resents  the  colossal  head  of  an  alligator,  having  in  its  jaws  a 
figure  with  a  human  face,  but  the  paws  of  an  animal ;  another 
monster  has  the  appearance  of  a  gigantic  toad  in  an  erect  pos 
ture,  with  human  arms  and  tiger's  claws.  On  neighboring 
hills  stand,  one  to  the  east  and  the  other  to  the  west  of  the  city, 
two  obelisks  containing  hieroglyphics  alone,  in  squares ;  these 
obelisks,  like  the  generality  of  those  in  the  city,  are  painted 
red,  and  are  thicker  and  broader  at  the  top  than  at  the  bottom. 
Mounts  of  stone,  formed  by  fallen  edifices,  are  found  throughout 
the  neighboring  country."* 

*  This  description  is  taken  from  a  paper,  written  at  Copan,  Tjy 
Colonel  Galindo,  late  Governor  of  the  Province  of  Peten,  in  Central 

13 


98  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

Copan  at  the  conquest  was  a  large  and  populous  city ;  we 
find  it  mentioned  as  inhabited  so  late  as  1570,  but  it  is  now 
deserted.*  From  the  description  afforded  by  Fuentes,  as  cited 
in  Juarros,  there  is  reason  to  suppose  that  some  of  the  obelisks 
were  arranged  in  a  circular  form.  He  wrote  in  the  year  1700, 
and  describes  as  existing  at  that  time,  entire,  "  the  Great  Circus 
of  Copan,"  "a  circular  space  surrounded  by  stone  pyramids 
about  six  yards  high,  at  the  bases  of  which  are  figures,  both 
male  and  female,  habited  in  the  Castilian  costume,  of  very  ex 
cellent  sculpture,  and  colored"  "  In  the  middle  of  the  area," 
he  adds,  "  a  flight  of  steps  led  to  the  place  of  sacrifice.  At  a 
short  distance  is  a  stone  gateway,  on  the  pillars  of  which  are 
sculptured  figures,  likewise  in  Spanish  habits ;  and  on  entering 
this  gateway  two  fine  stone  pyramids  present  themselves,  from 
which  is  suspended  a  hammock  containing  two  human  figures 
clothed  in  the  Indian  style.  Astonishment  is  forcibly  excited 
on  viewing  this  structure,  because,  large  as  it  is,  there  is  no 

America,  and  published  in  Archseologia  Americana,  vol.  ii.  p.  545. 
The  author,  in  his  Communication  to  the  President  of  the  American 
Antiquarian  Society,  explains  the  cause  of  its  brevity  in  the  following 
words:  "The  Government  of  Central  America  intends  publishing, 
in  Castilian,  a  long  report  I  have  drawn  up,  with  relation  to  the  ruins 
and  history  of  this  place,  with  various  plans,  views,  and  copies  of 
figures  and  inscriptions ;  I  therefore  at  present  confine  myself  to  these 
few  remarks." 

*  Colonel  Galindo  says  that  "  this  place  remained  long  celebrated 
for  the  superior  quality  of  its  tobacco  ;  but  the  cultivation  of  this  plant 
being  removed,  as  royal  property,  to  the  Llanos  de  Santa  Rosa, 
towards  the  east,  seventy-five  years  ago,  Copan  has  gradually  fallen 
into  decay,  and  is  now  reduced  to  a  small  hamlet,  in  the  western  sub 
urb  of  the  ancient  city." — Arch.  Am.  vol.  ii.  p.  459. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  99 

appearance  of  the  component  parts  being  joined  together ;  and 
although  entirely  of  stone,  and  of  an  enormous  weight,  it  may 
be  put  in  motion  by  the  slightest  impulse  of  the  hand."* 

About  seventeen  leagues  directly  south  of  Merida  in  the 
peninsula  of  Yucatan  are  the  ruins  of  Uxmal  or  Itzlan.f  The 
same  exaggerated  statements  have  been  made  with  regard  to 
the  extent  of  these  remains,  as  in  relation  to  those  of  Palenque. 
These  edifices  are  situated  on  a  plain  eight  leagues  long  and 
from  one  half  to  two  leagues  broad ;  those  we  are  about  to  describe 
occupy,  however,  but  a  small  circuit.  In  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries  they  were  in  a  good  state  of  preservation, 
and  most  of  the  injuries  now  perceptible  are  of  recent  date.J 
These  monuments  when  discovered  were  in  the  midst  of  a  for 
est,  with  trees  growing  everywhere  upon  their  surface.  The 
city,  according  to  Waldeck,  is  extended  in  a  south-westerly  di 
rection;  and  in  the  space  of  eight  leagues, many  monuments  may 
be  found  at  short  intervals  from  each  other.  The  most  remark 
able  edifices  lie  together,  and  consist,  in  the  first  place,  of  four 
great  buildings,  arranged  on  the  sides  of  a  quadrangular  terrace, 

*  Juarros,  cited  in  Modern  Traveller,  Mexico,  vol.  ii.  pp.  299,  300. 
Waldeck  says  that  this  hammock  is  not  to  be  found  at  Copan. 

f  Voyage  Pittoresque  et  Archeologique  Dans  La  Province  D' Yu 
catan,  1834,  1836,  par  Frederick  De  Waldeck,  p.  68. 

J  Uxmal,  says  Mr.  Waldeck,  signifies  "  Temps  passe"  p.  68.  Cog- 
olludo  and  Gutierre  are  referred  to  by  Waldeck,  as  "  the  only  guides 
of  modern  authors."  But  Uxmal  is  probably  the  same  place  as  was 
visited  by  the  Rev.  Father  Thomas  de  Soza,  and  described  as  situ 
ate  twenty  leagues  to  the  southward  of  the  city  of  Merida,  and  where 
he  reported  that  he  had  seen  stone  edifices  covered  with  stucco  orna 
ments  and  statues  of  men  beating  drums,  and  dancing  with  palms  in 
their  hands. — Del  Rio,  p.  7. 


100  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

which  is  fifteen  feet  high,  and  about  a  thousand  in  circuit ;  its  sides 
corresponding  accurately  with  the  cardinal  points.  The  length 
of  the  building  which  faces  the  south  is  two  hundred  and  twen 
ty-nine  feet  eight  inches,  and  its  breadth  twenty-seven  feet  eight 
inches.  It  is  divided  into  sixteen  chambers  disposed  in  two  rows, 
over  the  doors  of  which  there  are  rings  of  stone,  supposed  to  have 
been  used  as  supporters  to  tapestries  or  curtains  ;  and  two  lateral 
chambers  across  which,  beams  of  wood,  one  of  which  is  still 
visible,  appear  to  have  been  placed,  wherefrom  hammocks,  it  is 
conjectured,  were  suspended.  Over  the  doorways  of  these  cham 
bers,  and  on  the  inner  facade  of  the  building,  are  eighteen  repre 
sentations  of  the  sign  calli  :  these  representations  are  variously 
ornamented.  The  whole  of  this  extensive  building  is  bisected 
by  a  great  doorway  or  entrance,  whence  you  penetrate  into 
the  great  square  or  court.  This  edifice  is  not  so  high  as  any  of 
the  other  four,  the  loftiest  of  which  is  the  one  situated  on  the 
northern  side  of  the  square. 

The  monument  on  the  north  side  is  much  decayed  and  dis 
integrated,  but  its  dimensions,  the  number  of  its  chambers, 
and  the  character  of  its  ornaments,  are  precisely  like  those  of 
the  southern  building. 

The  edifice  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  terrace  is  one  hun 
dred  and  seventy-six  feet  five  inches  long,  thirty-four  feet  six 
inches  broad,  is  entered  by  four  doorways,  and  is  divided  into 
fourteen  chambers ;  upon  its  facade  an  emblem  of  the  sun  similar 
to  the  Mexican  is  repeated  seven  times. 

That  on  the  western  side  of  the  terrace  is,  with  a  slight 
variation,  of  the  same  size,  except  in  height,  and  of  the  same 
general  construction  as  the  others.  Within,  and  enclosed 
by  this  quadrangular  mass  of  buildings,  is  a  corridor  six  feet 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  101 

wide  running  round  the  four  sides,  whence  there  is  a  descent 
by  a  flight  of  steps  from  each  of  the  four  temples  to  a  spacious 
open  rectangular  court.  This  court  is  curiously  paved  with 
stones  six  inches  square,  each  of  which  is  exquisitely  cut  in 
demi-relief,  with  the  full  and  accurate  figure  of  a  tortoise. 
These  are  arranged  in  fours,  with  the  heads  of  the  tortoises  to 
gether.  They  are  forty-three  thousand  six  hundred  and  sixty  in 
number,  covering  the  whole  superficies  of  the  court,  and  though 
composed  of  a  very  hard  stone,  appear  much  worn. 

The  terrace  on  which  these  four  edifices  are  erected,  was 
accessible  on  its  eastern  and  southern  sides,  by  stairs  or  steps, 
which  now  are  little  more  than  inclined  planes,  for  most 
of  the  steps  have  crumbled  away.  This  terrace  was 
flanked  on  its  northern  and  southern  sides,  at  a  short  distance, 
by  ten  tumuli  symmetrically  arranged — five  on  each  side — which 
have  been  destroyed  in  the  search  after  treasures ;  and  in  its 
vicinity  are  other  remains  of  terraces  and  buildings,  which,  so 
far  as  they  have  been  examined,  appear  to  be  of  a  similar  cha 
racter.  The  Great  Teocalli  which  is  situated  to  the  east  of  the 
mass  of  buildings  just  described,  is  a  lofty  pyramid,*  with  an 
exterior  coating  of  stone  work.  The  stones  used  at  the  base 
are  the  largest,  and  their  size  diminishes  as  you  proceed  up 
ward  to  the  platform.  The  slab  above  the  door,  and  the  four 
pillars  of  the  eastern  faqade  of  the  temple  on  its  summit,  are 
the  only  large  stones  observable  in  this  structure.  This  pyra 
mid  was  ascended  on  the  eastern  side  by  a  flight  of  one  hundred 
steps,  each  of  which  was  one  foot  high  and  five  inches  broad. 
Its  superior  platform  is  ninety-one  feet  eight  inches  long, 

*  Mr.  Waldeck  says,  "the  loftiest  and  most  remarkable  of  fif 
teen  I  have  seen."  p.  71. 


102  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

and  forty-five  feet  wide,  and  supports  a  temple  eighty-one 
feet  eight  inches  long,  by  fourteen  feet  eight  inches  broad. 
This  temple  contained  three  chambers,  and  on  its  front,  on  the 
western  side  of  the  pyramid,  is  a  little  platform,  the  sides  of 
which  are  curiously  sculptured,  and  whereon,  it  is  supposed, 
sacrifices  were  performed ;  after  which  the  dead  bodies  were 
precipitated  down  the  side  of  the  pyramid.  On  the  western 
facade  of  the  temple  are  four  human  figures,  similar  to  Cary 
atides,  cut  in  stone,  with  great  fidelity  and  elegance.  Their 
hands  are  crossed  upon  the  breast,  and  hold  some  instrument ; 
the  head  is  enveloped  in  a  covering  resembling  a  casque,  with 
an  ear  appendage  like  the  Egyptian ;  about  the  neck  is  a  gar 
ment  of  the  skin  of  the  Caiman,  with  a  border  beautifully 
worked  ;  and  about  the  body  is  a  girdle.  Above  each  of  these 
is  a  sculptured  death's  head,  with  four  cross-bones.  All  these 
sculptures  are  executed  with  great  richness,  and  are  brilliantly 
colored.  The  east  facade  of  the  temple  has  two  apartments  or 
doorways,  and  two  little  pavilions,  each  supported  by  two 
pilasters,  above  which  appear  some  indications  of  capitals.  The 
sides  of  this  pyramid  were  covered  with  trees,*  and  are  very  pre 
cipitous  :  upon  its  corners,  it  is  thought  the  head  of  the  elephant 
is  sculptured. 

It  may  be  observed  in  conclusion  that  at  Uxmal  no  reliefs 
in  stucco  appear,  but  all  its  sculptures  are  in  stone,  well 
cut ;  and  some  of  them  subsequently  covered  with  stucco.  The 
ruins  are  of  a  colossal  character,  and  on  a  scale  of  grandeur. 
The  walls  of  the  chambers  in  the  temples,  though  constructed 
of  hewn  stone,  are  stuccoed  with  a  hard  black  stucco,  and  there 

*  The  largest  trees  were  only  five  inches  in  diameter.—  Waldeck, 
p.  98. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  103 

are  no  paintings  upon  them.  These  cells  have  no  windows, 
and  their  ceilings  are  arched  with  the  Cyclopean  arch.  The 
small  stones  which  ornament  the  faqades  of  the  temples,  are 
cut  with  great  care  into  precise  geometrical  figures,  and  are 
laid  with  extreme  accuracy.  "  J'ai  mesure  tous  ces  details," 
says  Waldeck, "  J'ai  fait  glisserle  plomb  sur  toutes  les  jointures, 
et  je  nai  jamais  trouve  la  plus  legere  deviation  sousle  cordeau." 

Many  symbolic  figures  and  hieroglyphics  are  represented 
on  various  parts  of  the  ruins  ;  these  are  all  of  consequence,  in 
a  comparative  view  of  the  American  Antiquities,  but  in  one  in 
stance  we  have  a  design  of  great  singularity.  It  consists  of  a 
double  triangle  and  globe,  so  arranged  as  to  suggest  the  idea 
of  having  been  intended  to  symbolize  the  four  elements,  earth, 
air,  fire  and  water. 

Seven  leagues  from  Merida  are  ruins  of  edifices  constructed 
with  stones  of  enormous  size,  and  covered  with  sculptures.  They 
are  called  "  Tixhualajtun,"  a  word,  it  is  said,  signifying  "  a  place 
where  one  stone  is  over  another."  Here  have  been  observed  one 
hundred  and  seventeen  stones,  sculptured  with  hieroglyphic  signs, 
and  inserted  in  the  wall.  The  empty  places  of  fourteen  of  these 
stones,  which  have  fallen  down,  are  observed,  which  make,  to 
gether  with  the  others,  one  hundred  and  thirty-one,  marking,  as 
is  maintained,  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  Katouns  or  Maya 
ages.  A  part  of  this  wall  has  fallen  down,  so  that  the  whole 
number  of  Katouns  which  may  have  existed  there  is  left  to  con 
jecture.* 

Beneath  the  city  of  Campeachy  are  subterranean  cham 
bers  excavated  in  the  rock.  It  is  difficult  to  say  whether 
they  were  employed  as  dwellings  or  as  sepulchres  ;  though  the 

*  Waldeck,  p.  73.     -' 


I 

104  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

latter  conjecture  appears  the  most  probable.*  Not  far  from 
this  city  are  some  fine  ruins,  and  also  a  large  tumulus  together 
with  several  smaller  ones  of  different  sizes.  It  is  said  that  the 
island  of  Cozumel  where  Cortez  first  landed,  lying  off  the  north 
eastern  coast  of  Yucatan,  also  abounds  in  ancient  remains. 

Of  the  fortifications  of  the  Mexicans  and  the  neighboring  na 
tions,  the  annals  of  the  conquerors  afford  us  very  copious  descrip 
tions.  For  the  protection  of  their  towns  and  cities,  they  employed 
palisadoes,f  ditches,J  entrenchments  and  walls  of  solid  mason- 
work.  Besides  the  vestiges  of  these  works  still  to  be  perceived 
near  some  of  the  ruins  of  cities  already  described,  others  have 
been  discovered  more  justly  entitled  to  the  rank  of  fortresses. 
Near  the  village  of  Molcaxac,  the  top  of  a  mountain  is  sur 
rounded  by  four  walls  placed  at  some  distance  from  each  other, 
from  the  base  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain.  Twenty-five 
miles  north  of  Cordova  are  the  ruins  of  the  fortress  of  Guatusco, 
consisting  of  high  walls  of  stone,  the  only  access  to  which  is 
by  a  flight  of  high  and  narrow  steps.§  Among  the  traces  of 
the  ancient  fortifications  may  yet  be  observed  those  of  the  great 
wall  of  Tlascala,||  a  monument  which  in  its  design  and  character 
reminds  us  of  similar  structures  in  the  eastern  hemisphere.  It 
was  constructed,  as  Cortez  was  informed  by  the  Indians,  by  the 
"  ancient  inhabitants"  of  that  republic,  to  defend  themselves 
against  the  invasions  of  their  enemies :  other  portions  of  the  fron 
tier  were  protected  in  a  similar  manner  by  ditches  and  entrench- 
ments.H  De  Solis  describes  it  as ' '  a  great  wall  which  ran  from  the 
one  mountain  to  the  other,  entirely  stopping  up  the  way:  a  sump- 

*  Waldeck,  pp.  9,  10,  11,  28,  102.  f  De  Solis,  vol.  i.  p.  93. 

|  Ibid,  vol.  ii.  p.  391.  §  Clavigero,  vol.  i.  p.  313. 

II  Humboldt's  Pol.  Essay,  vol.  ii.  p.  119.  Clavigero,  vol.  i.  p.  373. 
De  Solis,  vol.  ii.  p.  235.  If  Clavigero,  p.  34. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  105 

tuous  and  strong  piece  of  building,  which  showed  the  power 
and  greatness  of  the  owner.  The  outside  was  of  hewn  stone 
cemented  with  mortar  of  extraordinary  strength.  It  was  twenty 
feet  thick  and  a  fathom  and  a  half  high ;  and  on  the  top  was 
a  parapet  after  the  manner  of  our  fortifications.  The  entrance 
was  narrow  and  winding,  the  wall  in  that  part  dividing,  and 
making  two  walls,  which  circularly  crossed  each  other  for  the 
space  often  paces."*  Clavigero,  who  says  its  remains  were  still 
visible  when  he  wrote,  describes  it  as  stretching  from  one  moun 
tain  to  another,  six  miles  in  length,  eight  feet  in  height,  besides 
the  breastwork,  eighteen  feet  in  thickness,  and  as  made  of 
stone  cemented  with  mortar.f 

The  remains  of  the  Granaries  and  Temazcalli  have  not 
wholly  disappeared.  The  former  were  storehouses  in  which 
the  maize  was  collected,  and  were  constructed  either  of  wood 
or  stone.  The  only  entrances  or  outlets  were  two  windows, 
one  near  the  base,  the  other  near  the  top  of  the  building  and 
somewhat  larger  than  the  former.  The  Temazcalli  or  vapor 
baths  were  built  with  stone  or  brick,  in  the  form  of  a  dome. 
The  entrance  was  low  and  near  the  bottom,  the  floor  was 
slightly  convex  and  the  roof  arched,  the  height  from  five  to  six 
feet,  and  the  diameter  about  eight.  J 

None  of  the  ruins  exhibit  the  skill,  enterprise,  industry  and 
perseverance  of  the  ancient  inhabitants,  more  than  those  of 
their  roads  and  aqueducts.  Many  of  these  have  already  been 
incidentally  noticed ;  and  it  is  manifest  from  the  remains  of 
some  of  their  roads,  that  both  in  their  design,  and  in  the  cha- 

*  De  Soils,  vol.  i.  p.  242.     English  Translation,  London,  1738. 
t  Clav.  vol.  i.  p.  373. 

{  Clav.  vol.  ii,  p.  371.     Ibid.  vol.  i.  pp.  429,  377. 

14 


106  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

racter  of  their  structure,  they  were  public  works  worthy  of 
any  of  the  civilized  nations  of  Europe  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
Along  these  were  stationed,  couriers,  who  communicated  intelli 
gence  from  one  part  of  the  country  to  another — a  system  of 
posting  we  are  surprised  to  find  existing  in  America  at  that 
period.  The  city  of  Mexico,  which  was  built  on  several  islands 
near  the  shore  of  the  lake,  was  connected  to  the  mainland  by 
four  great  causeways  or  dikes,  the  remains  of  which  still  exist.* 
One  of  these  to  the  south,  the  same  by  which  Cortez  enter 
ed,  was  nearly  two  leagues  long — another  to  the  north  about 
one  league,  and  the  third  at  the  west  somewhat  less.f  The 
fourth  supported  the  celebrated  aqueduct  of  Chapoltepec,  by 
which  water  was  conducted  from  springs,  upon  an  insulated 
hill  of  that  name,  at  the  distance  of  from  two  to  three  miles. 
They  were  all  constructed  in  a  massive  style  with  earth  and 
stone,  and  with  the  exception  of  the  last  were  so  broad  that  ten 
horsemen  could  ride  abreast /£  These  causeways  and  the  roads 
which  led  from  them  were  of  recent  construction,  and  demon 
strate  that  the  Mexicans  were  fully  competent  to  the  erection 
of  monuments  equal  to  the  ancient  roads  of  Xochicalco  and 
Zacatecas. 

The  aqueduct  of  Chapoltepec  consisted  of  two  conduits 
formed  of  solid  mason  work§ — each  five  feet  high  and  two 
paces  broad — by  which  the  water  was  introduced  into  the 

*  Humboldt's  Political  Essay,  vol.  ii.  p.  32. 

t  De  Solis,  vol.  i.  p.  394.     Clavig.  vol.  ii.  p.  71. 

j:  Cortez  says  in  his  letter  to  Charles  V.,  they  were  "of  the 
breadth  of  two  lances." 

§  De  Solis,  vol.  ii.  p.  414.  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  408.  Humboldt's  Pol. 
Essay,  vol.  ii.  p.  30.  Clavig.  vol.  i.  p.  421. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  107 

city  for  the  supply  of  various  fountains.  Olid  and  Alvarado 
commenced  the  siege  of  Mexico  by  attempting  to  cut  off 
this  supply  of  water,  an  enterprise  which  the  Mexicans  endeav 
ored  to  prevent.  "  There  appeared  on  that  side,"  says  De 
Solis,  "  two  or  three  rows  of  pipes,  made  of  trees  hollowed, 
supported  by  an  aqueduct  of  lime  and  stone,  and  the  enemy  had 
cast  up  some  trenches  to  cover  the  avenue  to  it.  But  the  two 
captains  marched  out  of  Tacuba  with  most  of  their  troops,  and 
though  they  met  with  a  very  obstinate  resistance,  they  drove 
the  enemy  from  their  post,  and  broke  the  pipes  and  aqueduct  in 
two  or  three  places,  and  the  water  took  its  natural  course  into 
the  lake."  Humboldt  says,  there  are  still  to  be  perceived  the 
remains  of  another  aqueduct,  which  conducted  to  the  city  the 
waters  of  the  spring  of  Amilco,  near  Churubusco.  This  aque 
duct,  as  described  by  Cortez,  consisted  of  two  conduits  composed 
of  clay  tempered  with  mortar,  about  two  paces  in  breadth,  and 
raised  about  six  feet.  In  one  of  them  was  conveyed  a  stream 
of  excellent  water,  as  large  as  the  body  of  a  man,  into  the 
centre  of  the  city.  The  other  was  empty,  so  that  when  it  be 
came  necessary  to  clean  or  repair  the  former,  the  water  might 
be  turned  into  it  ;*  which  was  the  case  also  with  those  of  Cha- 
poltepec,  "of  which  one  was  always  in  use,  whenever  the 
other  required  cleaning."f 

Sculpture.  We  still  can  trace  among  the  natives  of  this 
part  of  the  continent,  indications  of  that  peculiar  talent  for 
rich,  complicated,  and  laborious  sculpture,  which  must  have 
distinguished  the  authors  of  the  idols,  statues  and  planispheres 

*  Robertson's  Hist.  Am.  note  148.      De   Solis,  vol.  ii.  p.  414. 
Lozenzano,  p.  108,  cited  in  Humboldt. 
t  De  Solis,  vol.  i.  p.  408. 


108  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

that  adorned  their  palaces  and  temples.  Humboldt  remarks, 
that  the  Mexicans  have  preserved  a  particular  fondness  for  the 
art  of  carving  in  wood  or  stone,  and  expresses  his  astonishment 
"  at  what  they  are  able  to  execute  with  a  bad  knife  on  the 
hardest  wood,"*  and  at  their  "  great  aptitude  in  the  exercise  of 
the  arts  of  imitation."  Waldeck  makes  a  similar  remark  of 
the  Yucatanese,  and  speaks  of  their  natural  talent  and  skill  for 
carving  in  stone,  even  with  the  rudest  instruments.!  Besides 
the  remains  of  ancient  sculpture  which  have  been  found  in 
many  of  the  ruins  already  described,  there  are  some  other  idols 
and  monuments  which  merit  attention,  both  as  justifying  these 
observations,  and  as  possessing  some  interest  in  themselves. 

Within  the  cathedral  of  Mexico,  sunk  in  the  earth,  with  the 
surface  alone  visible,  is  the  celebrated  piece  of  sculpture  called 
the  Stone  of  Sacrifice.  It  is  a  porphyry  stone,  twenty-five  feet 
in  circumference,  containing  in  the  centre  a  head  in  relief,  sur 
rounded  by  twenty  groups  of  two  figures  each,  all  represented 
in  the  same  attitude. 

One  of  the  figures  is  always  the  same ;  being  a  warrior, 
with  his  right  hand  resting  on  the  helmet  of  a  man,  who  is 
offering  him  flowers  in  token  of  submission,  and  who,  sup 
posed  to  represent  a  captive,  wears  the  dress  of  the  nation  to 
which  he  belonged ;  behind  him  is  a  hieroglyphic  denoting  the 
conquered  province.  On  the  upper  surface  of  the  stone,  there 
is  a  groove  of  some  depth,  designed  to  let  off  the  blood  of  the 
victims.  This  stone,  as  is  thought  by  Humboldt,  was  intended 
as  an  area,  upon  which  the  customary  gladiatorial  contests  be 
tween  foreign  prisoners  destined  for  sacrifice,  and  six  Mexican 
wrarriors,  took  place.  If  the  unfortunate  captive  succeeded  in 
*  Political  Essay,  vol.  i.  p.  129.  f  Waldeck,  p.  34. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  109 

conquering  all  his  opponents,  notwithstanding  the  great  nume 
rical  advantage  against  him,  he  was  released ;  otherwise  the 
tragedy  terminated  in  his  being  dragged  to  the  altar  by  the 
priest,  who  there  put  an  end  to  his  existence  by  opening  his 
breast  and  tearing  out  his  heart. 

In  the  wall  of  the  same  cathedral,  there  is  another  stone 
called  Montezuma's  watch,  or  the  Calendar  stone.  This  is 
likewise  formed  of  porphyry,  it  weighs  twenty-four  tons,  is 
finely  cut  and  polished,  and  is  twenty-seven  feet  in  circum 
ference.  In  its  centre  is  a  head  in  relief,  representing  the  sun 
with  a  yawning  mouth,  and  protruding  tongue,  similar  to  the 
image  of  Kala,  the  Chronos  of  Hindostan.  This  head  is  sur 
rounded  by  a  double  row  of  hieroglyphics ;  the  outer  one  of 
which  is  divided  into  twenty  compartments,  and  cut  by  eight 
triangular  rays ;  the  whole  system  of  symbols  being  encircled 
by  three  rows  of  ornaments  in  relief,  tastefully  designed  and 
executed  with  precision  and  neatness.* 

The  idol  of  the  goddess  Teoyamiqui,  which  lies  concealed 
in  the  University  of  Mexico,  a  statue  of  colossal  dimensions,  and 
terrible  form,  is  described  by  a  modern  traveller,  "  as  hewn  out 
of  one  solid  block  of  basalt,  nine  feet  high.  Its  outlines  give 
an  idea  of  a  deformed  human  figure,  uniting  all  that  is  horrible 
in  the  tiger  and  rattlesnake.  Instead  of  arms,  it  is  supplied 
with  two  large  serpents,  and  its  drapery  is  composed  of  wreath 
ed  snakes,  interwoven  in  the  most  disgusting  manner,  and  the 
sides  terminating  in  the  wings  of  a  vulture.  Its  feet  are  those 

*  Upon  the  hill  of  Tezcuco,  near  Montezuma's  bath,  there  was 
formerly  another  Toltec  Calendar  stone,  in  a  perpendicular  wall  of 
rock,  the  sculpture  of  which  is  now  wholly  defaced. — Latrobe's  Ram 
bler  in  Mexico^  p.  140. 


110  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

of  a  tiger,  and  between  them  lies  the  head  of  another  rattle 
snake,  which  seems  descending  from  the  body  of  the  idol.  For 
decorations,  it  has  a  large  necklace  composed  of  human  hearts, 
hands,  and  skulls,  and  it  has  evidently  been  painted  originally 
in  natural  colors."* 

At  Tezcuco,  lying  neglected  under  a  gateway,  an  idol  has 
been  observed,  nearly  perfect,  and  representing  a  rattlesnake ; 
it  appears  to  have  been  originally  painted  with  various  colors, 
which  were  rendered  vivid  and  distinct  when  discovered,  by 
washing.  At  the  town  of  Las  Tamaulipas,  a  village  supposed 
to  be  upon  the  site  of  one  of  the  ancient  cities,  and  situated 
near  Tampico,  two  very  perfect  idols  sculptured  in  basalt  have 
been  disinterred  from  the  earth,  together  with  several  small 
figures,  and  imitations  of  weapons  carved  in  bone  ;f  and  not  far 
from  this  place,  on  the  river  Panuco,  there  is  an  ancient  statue. J 
Still  further  up  the  Panuco,  and  near  the  Rancho  of  San  Juan, 
an  imperfect  piece  of  sculpture  has  been  seen,  resembling  the 
lion-figure-head  of  a  ship,  several  more  of  which  are  reported 
to  exist  at  an  ancient  city  some  few  leagues  distant,  called 
Quai-a-lam.  At  the  museum  in  the  University  at  Mexico  are 
various  articles  of  sculpture,  and  among  them  is  a  variety  of 
figures  of  the  rattlesnake  in  basalt ;  they  are  in  the  same  pos 
ture,  namely,  a  compact  coil,  from  which  the  head  and  rattle 
are  somewhat  elevated.  With  these  are  also  a  few  mutilated 
figures  of  men  and  animals,  and  some  fragments  of  little  dei 
ties^  In  a  private  cabinet  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  is  the  statue 
of  a  female,  which  has  been  considered  as  the  figure  of  an 

*  Humboldt  varies  slightly  from  this  description. — Hum.Rcs.volM. 
f  Lyon's  Journal  of  a  Tour  in  Mexico,  etc.,  1828,  vol.  i.  pp.  21, 28. 
J  Ibid.  pp.  49,  85, 101.  §  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  109. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  Ill 

Aztec  priestess.  This  is  a  basaltic  statue  representing  a  fe 
male  in  a  sitting  posture,  and  it  is  executed  with  finished  accu 
racy.  Humboldt  has  observed  that  the  head-dress  is  remarkable 
for  resembling  the  Egyptian  veil  or  calantica,  more  particularly 
that  style  found  upon  the  pillars  of  Tentyra,  and  that  the  back 
is  similar  to  that  of  a  bronze  statue  of  Osiris  in  the  museum  at 
Velletri.  The  peculiar  difference  in  the  Mexican  sculpture 
consists  in  a  string  of  pearls,  which  encircles  the  forehead,  and 
which  is  supposed  to  indicate  a  former  commercial  connection 
between  Mexico  and  the  Pearl  Coast  of  California.* 

A  relief  sculptured  upon  a  hard  black  stone,  and  discovered 
near  the  town  of  Oaxaca,  the  ancient  Huaxyacac,  the  capital 
of  the  Zapotecs,  represents  a  warrior,  who,  as  well  as  the  other 
figures,  is  remarkable  for  a  large  nose,  and  a  head-dress  similar 
to  those  delineated  upon  the  Mexican  hieroglyphic  paintings  at 
Velletri.  The  warrior  has  two  skulls  at  his  girdle,  and  wears 
an  apron  of  the  jaguar  skin,  with  its  tail  appended,  the  Mexi 
can  vest,  long  sleeves,  and  buskins.  Two  naked  men  are  seated 
cross-legged  at  his  feet.f  Another  idol  executed  in  basalt, 
found  in  the  valley  of  Mexico,  is  distinguished  for  the  same 
Egyptian  style  of  head-dress  observed  in  the  statue  of  the  Aztec 
priestess  before  described.J  Certain  granite  vases  of  beautiful 
form,  disinterred  upon  the  shores  of  Honduras,  exhibit  a  great 
resemblance  in  their  ornaments,  to  those  described  upon  the 
walls  of  Mitlan.§ 

Fragments  of  obsidian  generally  abound  in  the  neighbor 
hood  of  the  Mexican  ruins.  It  is  supposed  that  the  quarry, 
from  which  this  substance  was  obtained,  is  situated  in  the  moun- 

*  Humboldt's  Res.  vol.  i.  p.  43.  f  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  130. 

+  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  90.  §  Ibid,  vol.  i.  p.  90. 


112  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

tain  of  Los  Pelados.  On  an  adjacent  mountain  called  "the 
Mountain  of  the  Knives,"  pieces  of  obsidian,  of  the  form  of 
arrow-heads  and  knife-blades,  which  have  been  fractured  by 
the  ancient  inhabitants  for  use,  are  found  in  great  numbers.* 
The  vein  and  the  pits  sunk  for  the  working-  of  the  obsidian  are 
on  the  summit  of  Los  Pelados,  but  at  the  present  day  this  quarry 
is  nearly  filled  up.  In  the  museum  of  the  University  at  Mexico 
there  is  a  large  mask  of  obsidian,  "  well  carved  and  propor 
tioned,  and  exquisitely  polished." 

Earthenware.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  ruins  which  have 
been  described,  large  quantities  of  fragments  of  earthenware 
are  of  constant  occurrence,  and  many  entire  vessels  have  been 
found,  which  for  exquisite  workmanship  and  graceful  design 
are  exceedingly  remarkable.  The  art  of  working  in  clay  was 
not  however  confined  to  the  construction  of  vessels  only,  but 
extended  to  the  manufacture  of  other  articles. 

At  Las  Tamaulipas,  idols  in  terra  cotta  have  been  dug  up, 
representing  not  only  the  human  face,  but  also  the  peculiar 
head-dress  which  was  common  among  the  former  inhabitants 
of  that  district.f  At  the  village  of  Panuco  about  forty  miles 
above  Tampico,  on  the  river  Panuco,  these  remains  are  numer 
ous.  Among  them  we  find  described,  odd,  grotesque  looking 
figures  and  idols  in  terra  cotta,  vases,  a  little  bird-shaped  whistle 
of  earthenware,  having  two  holes  on  each  side,  so  that  a  tune 
might  be  produced  from  it,  and  a  very  perfect  earthen  flute.f 
Indeed,  the  streets  of  Panuco  are  to  this  day  strewed  thickly 
with  the  remains  of  ancient  crockery ;  and  often,  after  heavy 

*  Lyon's  Tour  in  Mexico,  vol.  ii.  p.  143,  145. 

f  Ibid.  vol.  i.  pp.  28,  100.  J  Ibid.  pp.  52,  53,  54. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  113 

rains,  entire  vessels  and  toys  are  found  washed  down  the  water 
courses."  One  of  these  vases  is  said  to  have  been  carved  with 
those  peculiar  flourishes,  introduced  in  the  Mexican  manuscripts, 
and  another  flute  composed  of  a  very  compact  red  clay  appeared 
to  have  been  once  polished,  and  painted.  It  had  four  holes,  and 
the  mouth  part  was  in  the  form  of  a  grotesque  head.  "  Some 
of  the  vases  yet  retain  their  colors  and  vitreous  glazing,  and 
many  are  of  an  earth  as  light  and  well  baked,  as  that  of  Tusca 
ny  ;  while  the  figures,  from  their  singular  attitudes  and  gro 
tesque  expression,  might  serve  as  models  to  the  toy-makers  of 
the  present  day.  The  flutes,  single  and  double,  with  two,  three 
or  four  holes,  the  oddly  shaped  pipes  and  whistles,  and  the  jars 
modelled  into  birds,  toads  and  other  animals — all  in  terra 
cotta,  exhibit  as  much  humor  as  ingenuity,  and  are  found,  either 
entire  or  broken,  in  such  quantities  as  to  induce  a  belief  that 
Panuco  was  actually  a  mart  for  crockery-ware."  These  fig 
ures,  it  may  be  remarked,  to  save  repetition,  bear  the  closest  re 
semblance  to  those  of  other  terra  cottas,  found  in  more  distant 
provinces. 

Hieroglyphical  Paintings*  It  would  be  far  beyond  the  scope 
of  this  brief  notice,  of  some  of  the  monuments  of  the  southern 
portion  of  North  America,  to  give  a  detailed  view  of  the  contents 
of  those  hieroglyphical  paintings,  which  record  nearly  all  that  is 
left  to  us,  of  the  ancient  history  and  customs  of  the  inhabitants  of 
that  territory.  Though  the  number  saved  from  the  hands  of  the 
Spaniards  is  few,  even  these  remnants  are  rich  in  minute  de 
scriptions  of  the  annals,  manners,  religion,  science  and  polity 
of  the  various  nations. 

Fragments  of  hieroglyphic  manuscripts  are  preserved  in  libra- 

15 


114  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

ries  at  Berlin,  Dresden,  the  Escurial,  Vienna,  Velletri,  Rome, 
Bologna  and  Mexico. 

One  of  those  at  Berlin,  made  after  the  Spanish  conquest, 
contains  the  genealogy  of  the  Princes  of  Azcapozalco,*  a  small 
district  in  the  valley  of  Mexico.  These  kings  claimed  to  be  of 
Acolhuan  descent,  and  of  ancient  and  noble  blood.  From  this 
picture  two  points  may  be  gathered  : 

1st.  That  the  dead  are  delineated,  as  having  their  feet  wrap 
ped  up ;  while  the  living  are  distinguished  by  small  tongues 
placed  near  the  mouth,  and  by  having  their  feet  at  liberty. 

2d.  That  the  names  of  these  princes  are  represented  by 
hieroglyphics  tied  to  the  head ;  these  names  were  pronounced 
by  the  natives,  upon  observing  the  symbol.  Attached  to 
this  manuscript  is  a  curious  description  of  a  lawsuit:  paint 
ings  of  this  kind,  were  used  as  statements  of  the  claims  of  liti 
gant  parties,  and  left  with  the  judge  both  as  minutes  of  the  evi 
dence,  and  as  records.  Other  paintings  in  the  Berlin  collection 
contain  lists  of  tributes,  detailed  genealogies,  and  historical  de 
scriptions  of  the  various  migrations  into  New  Spain.  In  some 
of  them,  the  figure  of  the  Aztec  shield  is  worthy  of  notice,  as 
being  similar  to  some  found  upon  Etruscan  vases.f 

Of  the  Codices  Vaticana?  at  Rome,  which  are  mentioned  by 
Acosta,  one  is  thought  to  consist  of  ritual  almanacs.  Upon  one  of 
its  pages  we  find  an  adoration  entirely  Hindoo  in  its  character.  It 
is  made  before  a  deity,  by  a  human  figure  touching  the  ground 
with  his  right  hand,  and  his  mouth  with  the  left.J  In  the  other 
of  these  manuscripts  shields  are  again  depicted  resembling  the 
Etruscan ;  and  warriors  contending  with  the  net,  very  much 

*  Humboldt's  Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  135.         f  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  89. 
J  Ibid,  vol.  i.  p.  194. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  115 

after  the  manner  of  the  Roman  Retiarii.  The  princes  are 
distinguished  by  a  red  ribbon  tying  the  hair,  the  badge  of 
nobles  and  heroes ;  and  the  kings  are  exhibited  with  naked  feet, 
as  it  was  their  custom  always  to  be  carried ;  many  of  the  figures, 
wear  beads  or  rosaries.* 

The  Mexican  manuscripts  seen  by  Humboldt,  in  the  palace 
of  the  viceroy  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  represented  the  journeys  of 
the  Aztecs  from  the  north,  the  construction  of  several  cities, 
and  the  principal  events  of  their  wars.f 

The  Codex  Borgianus  of  Velletri  is  the  largest  one  in  Italy, 
and  contains  a  ritual  and  astrological  almanac.J  Among  other 
curious  figures,  we  find  a  priest  wearing  a  remarkable  helmet, 
resembling  the  trunk  of  an  elephant ;  and  upon  another  page, 
the  head  of  a  priest  sacrificing,  covered  with  a  pointed  cap,  the 
original  of  which  occurs  frequently  in  eastern  Asia  and  on  the 
north-west  coast  of  America. 

In  the  Vienna  collection  we  find  the  targets  and  shields 
before  referred  to,  and  the  outlines  of  temples.§  The  human 
figures  are  generally  distinguished  by  the  absence  of  beard, 
large  Roman  noses,  and  the  pointed  form  of  the  head,  though, 
there  is  often  considerable  variety  in  the  features.|| 

*  Humboldt's  Res.,  vol.  ii.  p.  20.    Vol.  i.  pp.  203,  204. 

t  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  189.     See  also  Clavigero,  vol.  i.  p.  30. 

J  Humboldt's  Res.,  vol.  ii.  pp.  36,  204,  211. 

§  Robertson's  Hist.  Am.,  p.  365. 

||  "  This  collection,"  says  Dr.  Robertson,  who  had  accurate  copies 
taken  of  them,  "  appears  to  have  been  a  present  from  Emmanuel, 
King  of  Portugal,  to  Pope  Clement  VII.,  who  died  A.  D.  1583.  After 
passing  through  the  hands  of  several  illustrious  proprietors,  it  fell  into 
those  of  the  Cardinal  of  Saxe-Eisenach,  who  presented  it  to  the  Em 
peror  Leopold." — History  of  America,  p.  365,  Note. 


116  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

The  manuscript  in  the  Escurial  appears  to  contain  a  sacred 
or  ritual  calendar,*  and  shows  the  signs  of  the  days  and  months, 
together  with  their  astrological  influences. 

The  Mendoza  collection  of  paintings,  which  is  probably 
now  lost,  was  owned  by  Hakluyt  and  published  by  Purchas.f 
It  was  divided  into  three  parts  5  the  first  giving  the  history  of 
the  Aztec  dynasty  of  Mexico,  from  the  foundation  of  that  city 
to  the  death  of  Montezuma ;  the  second,  a  list  of  the  tributes 
paid  by  each  town  and  province  to  the  Emperor ;  and  the  third 
containing  a  view  of  Mexican  manners  and  institutions,  public 
and  domestic-!  Mexican  temples  are  here  delineated,  usually 
of  a  pyramidal  form,  but  occasionally  constructed  in  another 
style.  The  pyramids  are  divided  into  steps  or  terraces,  and 
have  buildings  upon  their  summits,  where  we  find  priests  sit 
ting,  and  watching  the  stars, 

The  Codex  Mexicanus  of  Bologna§  relates,  like  that  of  the 
Escurial,  to  astronomy  and  religion ;  and  that  of  Dresden  ex 
hibits  strong  indications  of  real  hieroglyphics. 

The  copies  at  Paris,  and  those  of  Gemelli  and  Boturini,|| 
seem  to  be  authentic,  and  are  almost  as  valuable  as  originals ; 


*  Robertson's  Hist.  Am.,  p.  366. 

f  This  collection,  made  by  Don  Antonio  Mendoza,  the  first  bishop 
of  Mexico,  was  sent  as  a  present  to  Charles  V.  Falling  into  the  hands 
of  the  French,  they  came  into  the  possession  of  the  geographer  The- 
venot,  of  whose  heirs  they  were  purchased  by  Hakluyt.  It  is  said 
that  a  Mexican  painting  exists  at  Oxford,  which  may  probably  be  a 
fragment  of  the  collection  of  Purchas. — HumboldCs  Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  188. 

%  Clavigero,  vol.  i.  p.  29.  Robertson,  p.  229.  Humboldt's  Res., 
vol.  i.  pp.  180,  184,  186. 

§  Clavigero,  vol.  i.  p.  406.        ||  Robertson,  pp.  365,  229. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  117 

among  them  are  the  Mexican  annals  and  migrations,  chronolo 
gical  calculations,  and  tribute  rolls.* 

The  material,  upon  which  the  paintings  are  depicted,  is  of 
two  kinds ; — those  at  Rome,  Vienna,  Velletri  and  Bologna  are 
on  stag-skins;  others  are  formed  upon  the  Maguey  or  Agave 
paper,  made,  like  the  Egyptian  rolls  of  papyrus,  by  a  transverse 
disposition  of  the  fibres  of  the  leaves,  after  being  macerated  in 
water.f  Some  specimens  of  Mexican  paper  are  as  thin  as  the 
Chinese  ;  and  others,  such  as  the  manuscripts  of  the  Escurial, 
are  of  great  thickness.|  Many  of  the  paintings  have*explana- 
tory  notes  appended  to  them,  in  the  Spanish  or  Mexican  lan 
guage,  which  are  valuable  as  expositions  contemporaneous  with 
a  period,  when  the  picture  writing  was  better  understood  than 

*  The  copies  of  Gemelli  were  taken  from  the  paintings  in  the  col 
lection  of  Siguenza,  which,  at  his  death,  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
Jesuits  in  Mexico.  Boturini,  who  was  ardently  devoted  to  the  study 
of  Mexican  history,  formed  a  valuable  museum,  during  his  long  resi 
dence  in  that  country,  in  which  were  many  of  these  paintings.  When 
he  unfortunately  became  an  object  of  suspicion  to  the  Spanish  govern 
ment  his  manuscripts  were  seized ;  some  of  them  were  lost  by  the 
capture  of  the  vessel  in  which  they  were  sent  to  Europe.  Some  came 
into  the  possession  of  the  Archbishop  of  Toledo,  a  portion  of  which 
was  published ;  and  probably  most  of  the  remainder  have  perished, 
excepting  a  few  still  left  in  the  city  of  Mexico. — Clamgero^  vol.  i.  p. 
30.  A  copy  of  one,  representing  the  Mexican  migrations,  has  recently 
been  published  by  Mr.  Delafield. 

t  Humboldt's  Political  Essay,  vol.  ii.  p.  375. 

t  Waldeck,  who  thinks  that  many  of  the  manuscripts  have  been 
fabricated  or  forged,  says  that  those  painted  before  the  arrival  of  the 
Spaniards  may  be  distinguished  by  the  thickness  of  the  paper.—  Voy 
age  Pittoresque,  p.  46. 


118  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

at  present.  The  volumes  were  not  separated  into  leaves,  nor 
formed  into  rolls,  but  were  folded  up  in  a  zig-zag  manner,  like 
the  Siamese  manuscripts.*  The  pictorial  part  of  the  manu 
scripts,  exhibits  forms  which  betray  very  little  skill  in  delinea 
tion,  and  less  elegance  and  taste  in  design,  but  it  has  been 
justly  remarked,  that  the  principal  forms  have  doubtless  been 
early  fixed,  and  as  their  sole  purpose  was  the  conveyance  of 
ideas,  there  existed  a  strong  necessity  for  adhering  to  the  origi 
nal  figures;  any  change  being  productive  of  much  more  confu 
sion  thai|  would  be  produced  by  an  alteration  of  the  alphabet, 
or  of  the  grammatical  construction  of  our  own  language.  The 
human  forms  are  usually  dwarfish  and  with  large  heads,  like 
those  on  the  Etruscan  reliefs,  and  the  heads  are  always  repre 
sented  in  profile :  among  them,  grotesque  and  hideous  figures 
continually  occur,  reminding  us  of  the  Hindoo  representations 
of  deities.f 

It  has  been  insisted  that  the  Mexicans  possessed  no  hiero 
glyphics.  Without  entering  at  this  time  into  the  discussion,  it 
may  be  observed  here,  that  the  picture  writings  separately  con 
sidered,  cannot  of  course  be  considered  as  hieroglyphics — for 
representing  individual  and  particular  occurrences,  they  were 
widely  different  from  that  system  of  communication,  which 
possesses  the  power  of  indicating  general  ideas  by  symbolic 
signs.  In  the  manuscripts,  however,  we  find  figures  which  have 
been  arbitrarily  chosen  to  indicate  certain  objects,  and  others 
which  are  real  hieroglyphics  representing  the  elements,  the 
relations  of  number,  time,  and  place,  and  proper  names. 

*  Humboldt's  Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  163.  f  Ibid.  vol.  1.  165,  etc. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  119 

It  will  be  perceived,  that  in  these  brief  notices  of  the  most 
remarkable  ruins  in  this  portion  of  the  continent,  such  detailed 
and  minute  descriptions,  as  are  afforded  by  the  sources  from 
whence  they  have  been  taken,  have  been  avoided.  The  object 
has  been,  to  embrace  a  general  view  of  their  style,  character, 
numbers,  and  local  position,  so  as  to  lay  the  basis  of  a  general 
comparison  of  all  the  American  monuments — and  not  to  attempt 
a  particular  and  circumstantial  description ;  which,  to  be  un 
derstood,  should  be  accompanied  with  pictorial  illustrations. 
Among  those  omitted,  are  numerous  designs,  ornaments  in  stucco, 
sculptures  and  hieroglyphics,  to  which  a  verbal  delineation  could 
by  no  possibility  render  justice ; — allusion  will  be  made  to  these, 
however,  whenever  they  become  important  in  shedding  any  light 
upon  the  history  of  their  authors,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  some 
of  them  are  valuable  evidences,  in  the  solution  of  various  inter 
esting  questions  involved  in  the  present  investigation.  Before 
passing  to  a  view  of  the  other  ancient  American  monuments, 
it  may  be  useful  to  inquire,  what  conclusions  may  be  drawn  from 
those  just  examined. 

Their  Antiquity.  Though  all  of  these  ruins  are  at  this 
time  deserted,  it  is  by  no  means  just  to  suppose  that  they  are 
the  relics  of  a  people  now  become  extinct.  When  this  country 
was  invaded  by  the  Spanish  conquerors,  as  has  already  been 
observed,  it  was,  like  Peru,  occupied  by  a  polished  and  culti 
vated  race.  Many  of  its  cities  were  then  large  and  flourishing, 
and  inhabited  by  a  numerous  population.  Their  magnificent 
palaces  were  still  the  residences  of  princes,  and  the  temples  still 
devoted  to  their  original  sacred  uses.  The  arts  were  in  a  high 
state  of  advancement — science  was  cultivated — religion  well 


120  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

established,  and  powerful  governments  in  firm  and  substantial 
existence.  It  may  accordingly  be  maintained,  beyond  the  fear 
of  contradiction,  that  some  of  these  structures,  or  in  any  event, 
similar  ones,  were  erected  by  the  ancestors  of  the  present  In 
dian  tribes  occupying  that  region.  But  as  might  be  naturally 
inferred,  and  as  is  clearly  proved  by  traditional  and  other  testi 
mony,  these  nations  had  not  escaped  the  ordinary  lot  of  human 
affairs,  but  had  been  subjected  to  all  the  consequences  of  inva 
sions,  wars,  and  revolutions,  through  the  long  period  which  had 
elapsed  since  their  first  settlement  here,  to  the  time  of  the  dis 
covery  ;  and  consequently,  as  we  must  assign  different  dates  to 
the  origin  of  these  cities  respectively,  it  is  probable,  and  in 
some  cases  almost  certain,  that  many  of  them  were  already  de 
serted  and  left  to  decay  when  the  Spaniards  first  arrived,  while 
others  were  still  inhabited.  We  are  informed  that  wrhen  Cor- 
tez  entered  Mexico,  the  great  Teocalli  of  that  city  had  been  but 
recently  erected — and  we  are  also  told  that  it  was  built  after 
the  model  of  the  pyramids,  constructed  by  the  Toltecs — a  peo 
ple  to  whom  were  ascribed,  as  was  the  custom  in  the  absence 
of  any  definite  testimony,  all  such  edifices  as  were  manifestly 
of  great  antiquity.  The  pyramids  of  Teotihuacan  and  Cholula 
were  said  to  be  of  Toltecan  origin — and  the  latter  is  associated 
with  some  of  the  oldest  Mexican  religious  traditions.  These 
pyramids  then  were  the  models  for  subsequent  imitation ;  but 
by  common  consent  it  is  acknowledged,  that  the  era  of  the  ar 
rival  of  the  Toltecs  in  Mexico,  as  pointed  out  by  the  Mexican 
hieroglyphic  manuscripts,  was  as  far  back  as  the  seventh  cen 
tury.  We  have  therefore  the  testimony  of  the  Mexicans  them 
selves,  that  some  of  those  edifices  proceeded  from  a  nation  who 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  121 

had  occupied  that  country,  before  the  Aztec  tribes,  at  a  very  early 
period, — and  it  will  be  seen  hereafter,  from  other  evidences, 
that  their  antiquity  may  be  carried  back  still  further. 

2.  Their  general  resemblance.  It  is  impossible  to  survey  the 
remains  of  the  monuments  of  these  ancient  nations,  without  per 
ceiving,  however  much  they  may  vary  in  minor  details,  that 
they  proceeded  from  branches  of  the  same  great  race ;  and  for 
this  reason  all  these  ruins  have  been  embraced  in  one  general 
view,  without  distinction  of  authorship.  A  strict  and  particular 
analogy  it  would  be  unphilosophical  to  expect ;  for,  notwith 
standing  the  common  origin  of  their  authors,  they  had  been 
separated,  probably  for  many  ages,  into  distinct  societies  and 
governments ;  but  yet,  from  Zacatecas  in  the  north,  to  Guate 
mala  and  Yucatan  in  the  south  and  east,  we  can  trace  certain 
leading  and  marked  characteristics  in  the  productions  of  the 
arts,  which  tend  to  give  them  a  general  similitude  in  style  and 
appearance. 

One  of  the  most  common  indications  of  this  uniformity,  is 
the  presence  of  enormous  pyramids ;  and  when  these  are  ab 
sent,  or  are  not  to  be  discerned  in  the  form  of  perfect  pyramids, 
the  same  species  of  structure  may  be  observed  in  immense 
pyramidal  terraces,  which  served  as  the  bases  of  more  finished 
and  elaborate  buildings, — and  this  too  at  widely  separated 
points,  for  the  edifices  at  Zacatecas  bear  a  striking  similarity  to 
those  situated  at  the  south  of  Mexico.  Large  quadrangles  and 
courts  surrounded  by  buildings — walls  covered  with  cement  and 
paintings — the  employment  of  the  Cyclopean  arch-— extensive 
aqueducts,  broad  and  paved  roads  or  causeways — the  style  of 
sculpture — the  peculiar  form  of  the  figures  in  the  religious  or 
mythological  representations,  common  even  to  the  Mexican 

16 


122  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

manuscripts — the  evidences  of  similar  astronomical  systems,  and 
the  use  of  the  same  system  of  hieroglyphics,  all  indicate  a 
decided  analogy  in  the  arts,  customs  and  institutions  of  these 
nations.  This  topic,  however,  will  receive  more  deliberate  at 
tention  hereafter ;  and  in  the  mean  time  let  us  proceed  to  the 
examination  of  the  aboriginal  monuments  in  South  America* 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  123 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ANTIQUITIES    IN   SOUTH   AMERICA. 

SOUTH  AMERICA,  at  the  discovery,  presented  in  the  charac 
ter  and  condition  of  its  inhabitants,  an  appearance  very  similar 
to  that  exhibited  in  the  northern  continent.  Over  the  greater 
portion,  were  scattered  numerous  families  of  the  Red  race,  ele 
vated  in  no  respect  above  a  state  of  barbarism,  though  still 
preserving  some  feeble  traces  of  a  lost  civilization,  in  their  cus 
toms  and  traditions.  All  these  tribes  appeared  to  be  of  the 
same  stock,  and  to  be  characterized  by  the  same  physical  and 
social  peculiarities  as  the  North  American  Indians.  In  the 
remaining  part,  there  were  several  nations  which  were  justly 
entitled  to  be  considered,  at  least,  as^emi-civilized;  and  among 
these  the  Peruvians  were  pre-eminent.  Under  the  guidance  of 
their  enterprising  sovereigns,  in  a  career  of  conquest  steadfastly 
pursued  for  more  than  four  hundred  years,  they  had  subjugated, 
and  retained  under  their  permanent  dominion,  neighboring 
tribes  and  kingdoms,  until  their  empire  comprehended  northern 
Chile  on  the  south,  and  the  kingdom  of  Quito  on  the  north, 
and  extended  from  the  Pacific  on  the  west,  to  the  easterly  Cor 
dilleras  of  the  Andes.*  Civilization,  however,  was  not  confined 
within  these  limits :  Chile,  into  which  country  the  restless  and 

*  Garcillasso  de  la  Vega,  vol.  p.  16.  Humboldt's  Personal  Nar 
rative,  vol.  v.  pp.  85,  86.  Humboldt's  Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  177.  Yupanqui, 
the  tenth  Inca,  was  compelled  to  desist  from  a  further  prosecution  of 


124  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

ambitious  Incas  had  penetrated  with  their  armies,  and  the 
northern  portion  of  which  they  appear  to  have  conquered,  was 
occupied  by  various  tribes  far  advanced  above  the  savage 
state ;  and  to  the  north  and  north-east  of  the  kingdom  of  Quito, 
there  were  nations,  whose  attainments  in  the  arts  were  second 
only  to  those  of  the  Peruvians.  Of  the  history  of  these  civ 
ilized  races  we  have  no  knowledge,  save  such  as  may  be  gath 
ered  from  their  traditions,  or  from  the  Peruvian  chronicles, — 
and  the  latter  are  of  too  suspicious  a  character  for  implicit  reli 
ance,  particularly  when  they  relate  to  the  customs,  institutions 
and  condition  of  those  tribes  which  they  conquered,  previous  to 
their  subjugation.  But  the  ancient  remains  still  visible  through 
out  this  territory,  after  the  lapse  of  so  many  centuries,  afford 
data  for  comparison  with  the  monuments  of  other  ^aboriginal 
nations,  and  for  important  conclusions  as  to  the  origin  and  the 
migrations  of  their  authors. 

Mounds.  Earthen  mounds  are  found  in  Colombia,  Peru 
and  Chile,  similar  to  those  of  North  America,  and  like  them, 
containing  the  bones  of  the  dead,  besides  articles  which  dis 
close  to  us  many  proofs  of  the  degree  of  civilization  attained 
by  their  builders.  The  plains  of  Varinas,  about  north  Latitude 
7°,  exhibit  some  of  these  monuments,  consisting  of  artificial 
conical  hills,  which  are  found  between  Mijagual,  and  the  Cano 
de  la  Hacha. 

Over  the  greater  part  of  the  country,  formerly  comprised 
under  the  government  of  the  Incas,  tumuli  are  of  frequent  oc- 

the  conquest  of  Chile,  by  the  valorous  resistance  of  the  Purumanco 
Indians,  after  having  successfully  carried  his  arms  as  far  as  the  river 
Mauli,  in  lat.  S.  34°  30'.  Ulloa's  Voyage,  vol.  ii.  p.  266.  Molina's 
History  of  Chili,  vol.  ii.  p.  10. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  125 

currence ;  they  are  called  Huacas,  by  the  natives,  and  being 
sepulchres,  have  also  been  made  the  depositories,  according  to> 
the  aboriginal  custom,  of  much  of  the  riches  and  treasure  of  the 
deceased.  Some  of  them  contain  galleries,  built  of  stone  or 
brick,  and  communicating  with  each  other.*  The  method  of 
forming  these  mounds  appears  to  have  consisted  in  depositing 
the  body  of  the  dead,  without  interment,  in  the  place  where  it 
was  to  rest,  surrounding  it  with  a  tomb  of  stones  and  bricks, 
and  then  throwing  earth  upon  it  until  the  Guaca  had  attained 
the  desired  elevation.f  Their  usual  height  is  about  from  fifty 
to  sixty  feet,  their  length  from  one  hundred  and  twenty  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and  their  breadth  somewhat  less,  though 
there  are  some  much  larger ;  their  form  is  generally  oblong. 
One,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  south  of  Lima,  which  contained 
some  human  skulls,  is  nearly  two  hundred  feet  high.J  Ulloa 
observes,  that  "  the  remarkable  difference  in  the  magnitude  of 
these  monuments  seems  to  indicate  that  the  Huacas  were  al 
ways  suitable  to  the  character,  dignity,  or  riches  of  the  person 
interred." 

A  few  of  these  structures  require,  for  the  purposes  of  this 
investigation,  a  specific  description.  The  Paneqillo  of  Callo,  a 
few  leagues  to  the  south-west  of  Quito,  is  a  hill  composed  of 
volcanic  stone,  supposed  by  some§  to  be  an  artificial  structure 
or  tumulus,  while  the  more  reasonable  opinion  is,  that  it  is  a 
natural  elevation,  to  which  the  natives  have  given  a  more  reg 
ular  forrn.||  Its  shape  is  conical,  and  its  height  about  two  hun- 

*  Humboldt's  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  102. 

t  Molina,  vol.  ii.  p.  81.     Ulloa,  vol.  i.  p.  492. 

}  Morton's  Crania  Americana,  p.  226.     §  Ulloa,  and  the  Natives. 

||  Humboldt's  Researches,  vol.  ii.  pp.  3, 4. 


126  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

dred  and  sixty  feet,  an  altitude  not  much  exceeding  that  of  the 
mounds  at  Mansiche.* 

Near  Santa,  in  Peru,  is  a  mound  in  which  were  found  vessels 
of  baked  clay,  "  of  fine  workmanship  and  ingenious  construc 
tion,"  and  a  human  body  interred  in  a  sitting  posture.^  The 
Huacas  at  Lambayeque  are  about  thirty  feet  high,  one  hundred 
and  sixty  feet  square,  and  of  a  pyramidal  shape,  and  in  the  in 
terior  of  one  of  them  is  a  wall  made  of  adobes  of  different  sizes.  J 

In  Chile  we  sometimes  find  tumuli  composed  of  stones.  Upon 
opening  one  of  these,  on  the  mountains  of  Arauco,  an  urn  of 
extraordinary  size  was  discovered  at  the  bottom.§ 

The  most  curious  and  interesting  structure  of  this  character, 
interesting  from  its  similarity  to  those  terraced  pyramids  of  the 
United  States  and  Mexico,  which  have  been  described,  existed  in 
that  locality  which  appears  to  have  been  the  centre  of  South  Ame 
rican  civilization.  To  the  east  of  Lake  Titicaca,  in  the  province 
of  Callao,  and  upon  the  elevated  plain  of  Tiahuanaco,  are  the 
remains  of  the  most  ancient  edifices  of  the  southern  continent. 
Here,  at  the  time  of  the  conquest  of  this  territory  by  Mayta 
Capac,  the  fourth  Inca,  was  the  city  of  Tiahuanaco,  remarkable 
for  its  great  and  magnificent  edifices.  The  most  striking  of 
these,  says  Garcillasso  de  la  Vega,  was  a  hill  or  mound  erected 
by  the  hand  of  man,  and  of  almost  incredible  height.  The  In 
dians,  remarks  this  author,  who  seem  to  have  wished  to  imitate 
nature  in  this  structure,  had  placed  for  its  foundation  immense 

*  Ulloa  says  that  its  height  is  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  one 
hundred  and  eighty  feet,  vol.  i.  p.  500. 
f  Morton's  Crania,  p.  225. 

|  Ruschenberger's  Three  Years  in  the  Pacific,  p.  400. 
§  Molina's  Hist.  Chile,  vol.  i.  p.  21. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  127 

masses  of  stone  cemented  together,  which  were  surmounted  by 
prodigious  terraces  raised  one  above  another ;  but  the  design 
of  this  marvellous  building  is  unknown.* 

It  appears  most  probable,  that  the  bodies  of  deceased  chief 
tains,  and  other  persons  of  consequence,  were  buried  in  the 
mounds  or  huacas,  and  that  those  of  ordinary  individuals  were 
deposited  in  common  graves.  Many  of  these  bodies  appear  to 
have  undergone  the  process  of  embalming,  as  was  the  case, 
according  to  Garcillasso  de  la  Vega,  with  the  remains  of  the 
Incas ;  others,  on  the  contrary,  have  been  buried  without  any 
artificial  means  used  for  their  preservation,  and  yet,  in  conse 
quence  of  the  antiseptic  qualities  of  the  soil  and  climate,  they 
present,  externally,  the  appearance  of  mummies  regularly  em 
balmed.  At  Callao,  M.  Poepig  observes,  "  such  is  the  extreme 
aridity  of  the  soil,  that,  after  the  lapse  of  three  centuries,  we 
still  find  the  mummies  of  the  ancient  Peruvians  in  a  state  of 
perfect  preservation.  They  were  interred  in  a  sitting  posture."^ 
Mr.  Stevenson  also  remarks,  that  the  bodies  found  in  the  huacas, 
owing  to  the  nitrous  qualities  of  the  earth,  are  well  preserved.! 

About  a  mile  from  the  town  of  Arica§  is  an  extensive  ceme 
tery,  situated  upon  the  side  of  a  hill.  The  graves  are  indicated 
by  hillocks  of  upturned  sand,  and  human  bones  with  the  dry 
flesh  still  adhering,  scattered  over  the  surface.  They  may  be 
discovered  by  the  hollow  sound,  consequent  upon  stamping  on 
the  ground  where  they  are.  "  The  surface  is  covered  over  with 
sand,  an  inch  or  two  deep ;  which  being  removed  discovers  a 
stratum  of  salt,  three  or  four  inches  in  thickness,  that  spreads 

*  Garcillasso  de  la  Vega,  vol.  i.  pp.  126,  128. 

f  Travels  cited  in  F.  O.  Rev.  Am.  Edit.  vol.  3.  p.  17. 

I  Vol.  i.  p.  415.  §  Frezier,  pp.  172, 177. 


128  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

all  over  the  hill.  Immediately  beneath  are  found  the  bodies  in 
graves  or  holes,  not  more  than  three  feet  in  depth.  The  body 
was  placed  in  a  squatting  posture,  with  the  knees  drawn  up, 
and  the  hands  applied  to  the  sides  of  the  head.  The  whole 
was  enveloped  in  a  coarse  but  close  fabric,  with  stripes  of  red, 
which  has  withstood  wonderfully  the  destroying  effects  of  ages, 
for  these  interments  were  made  before  the  conquest,  though  at 
what  period  is  not  known.  A  cord  was  passed  about  the  neck 
on  the  outside  of  the  covering,  and  in  one  case  we  found  de 
posited  upon  the  breast  a  small  bag  containing  five  little  sticks, 
about  two  and  a  half  inches  long,  tied  in  a  bundle."  "  Several 
of  the  bodies  which  we  exhumed  were  in  a  perfect  state  of 
preservation.  We  found  the  brain  dwindled  to  a  crumbling 
mass,  about  the  size  of  a  hen's  egg,  perhaps  adipocere.  The 
cavity  of  the  chest  was  nearly  empty,  and  the  heart  contained 
what  seemed  to  be  indurated  blood,  which  cut  with  as  much 
facility  as  rich  cheese.  The  muscles  were  like  hard  smoked 
beef."*  The  same  author  describes  the  graves  at  Santa,  Santa 
Bay,  south  latitude  eight  degrees  fifty -two  minutes,  as  resembling 
those  of  Arica,  but  some  of  them  apparently  constructed  with 
more  care,  being  chambers  about  six  feet  deep  and  four  in 
length,  walled  up  on  the  sides  with  adobes.f 

Some  of  the  present  natives  set  apart  the  middle  of  their 
houses,  for  the  interment  of  the  dead.J  Mr.  Stevenson  says,  that 
at  Supe  he  was  convinced,  that  the  Indians  buried  their  dead  in 
their  houses  where  they  had  resided,  as  he  had  dug  up  many  of 
them  ;§  and  it  is  probable  that  many  places,  now  supposed  to 

*  Ruschenberger,  pp.  340-1. 

f  Ibid.  p.  374.     I  Smyth's  Narrative,  pp.  182,216.     §  Stevenson, 
vol.  i.  p.  413. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  129 

have    been   only   cemeteries,   were    the    immediate   sites   of 
towns. 

Further  to  the  north,  the  graves  of  the  higher  ranks  appear  to 
be  similar  to  those  just  described.  On  the  edge  of  the  conical 
summit  in  which  the  lake  of  Guativita  is  situated,  Captain 
Cochrane  saw  two  of  the  sepulchres  of  the  caciques,  hewn  in 
the  sandstone,  and  remarked  that  the  burial-places  of  the  chiefs 
had  always  been  chosen  on  commanding  summits  overlooking 
the  plains,  and  that  they  were  generally  interred  singly;  whereas 
the  lower  class  were  buried  in  large  caverns  formed  for  that 
purpose,  some  hundreds  of  feet  below.*  He  thus  describes  one 
of  these  tombs  opened  by  him :  "  The  spot  was  indicated  by  a 
small  hollow  appearance  in  the  ground.  After  removing  about 
a  foot  of  earth  and  turf,  we  came  to  an  amazingly  large  stone, 
about  twelve  feet  long,  eight  wide,  and  nine  inches  thick — it  was 
a  kind  of  sandstone ;  this  we  were  obliged  to  break,  and  with 
great  difficulty  removed,  when  in  two  pieces.  It  had  rested  on 

*  Cochrane's  Travels,  vol.  ii.  p.  253,  etc. 

The  cave  of  Ataruipe;  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Orinoco,  has 
been  the  sepulchre  of  some  extinct  tribe.  Six  hundred  skeletons 
were  found  in  it,  well  preserved,  and  regularly  arranged  in  baskets. 
The  bodies  had  been  doubled  or  bent  together.  The  bones  were 
entire,  and  some  of  them  had  been  whitened  in  the  sun,  some  dyed 
red  with  anoto,  and  others  varnished,  like  mummies,  with  odoriferous 
resins.  Earthen  vases,  half  baked,  were  placed  by  the  sides  of  the 
baskets,  and  also  contained  bones ;  some  of  them  were  three  feet 
high,  and  five  and  a  half  long.  They  were  oval  in  shape,  of  a  green 
ish  gray  color,  the  handles  modelled  in  the  form  of  crocodiles  and 
serpents,  and  their  bodies  ornamented  with  meanders  and  grecques 
To  the  north  of  the  Cataracts  of  the  Orinoco  are  other  caverns  filled 
with  human  bones. — Humboldtfs  Pers.  Nar.t  vol.  v.  pp.  517,  627. 

17 


130  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

a  shelf  p:ece  all  round ;  the  grave  was  formed  in  sandstone. 
We  at  first  came  to  earth,  and  then  to  finely  variegated  sand, 
rammed  down  so  hard  as  to  appear  almost  an  integral  part  of 
the  sandstone,  but  manifestly  different,  as  it  crumbled  to  fine 
dust  when  once  broken  out,  whereas  the  natural  strata  adhere 
firmly  together.  After  digging  down  for  about  eight  feet,  we 
came  to  earthenware  of  a  rough  description  and  rudely  painted, 
some  of  which  had  been  used  for  water, — others  for  cooking 
utensils,  from  the  evident  marks  of  fire  on  them ;  the  whole 
contained  nothing  but  sand.  At  about  fourteen  feet  depth  we 
met  with  some  human  bones — the  thigh  and  arm  pieces — but 
no  skull  or  teeth ;  and  after  continuing  our  labor  to  the  depth 
of  thirty  feet,  we  reached  the  original  native  strata." 

There  was  yet  another  kind  of  tomb  used  by  the  ancient 
Indians,  which  is  alluded  to  by  Frezier.  "  There  is  much  dif 
ference,"  he  says,  "  between  these  voluntary  tombs  and  those 
they  erected  for  men  of  note.  The  latter  are  above  the  ground, 
built  with  unburnt  bricks,  and  round  like  little  pigeon-houses, 
five  or  six  feet  in  diameter,  and  twelve  or  fourteen  in  height, 
arched  like  the  top  of  an  oven — in  which  the  dead  were  placed 
sitting,  and  then  they  were  walled  up."*  Numerous  sepulchres 
of  this  character,  but  composed  of  stone,  have  been  observed 
between  Andamarca  and  Tacua.  They  were  of  an  oblong  form 
and  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet  high ;  and  they  appear,  for  some 
distance,  in  every  direction  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach.f 
"On  an  immense  plain,"  says  Mr.  Temple,  "bounded  on  my 
left  by  the  Cordilleras,  I  passed  a  row  of  ancient  mud-  built 
structures,  which  at  a  distance  had  the  appearance  of  Martello 

*  Frezier,  pp.  177,  178. 

f  Andrews'  Travels  in  South  America,  vol.  ii.  p.  147. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  131 

towers.  They  are  said  to  have  been  the  sepulchres  of  Indian 
chiefs  before  the  conquest ;  the  walls  of  some  of  them  were 
nearly  perfect,  which  may  convey  an  idea  of  the  durability  of 
the  adobes — a  sun-dried  compost  of  mud  and  strong  grass — 
with  which  they  are  constructed ;  having  stood  for  centuries, 
without  any  symptoms  of  decay  from  the  injuries  of  time  or 
weather.  The  only  aperture  in  the  walls  is  a  very  small  doorway, 
made  low,  in  order,  it  is  recorded,  that  the  abode  might  never 
be  entered  but  in  the  posture  of  humility  and  veneration."* 

Upon  opening  the  mounds  and  graves,  they  are  found  to 
contain  a  great  variety  of  implements  and  other  articles,  of 
gold,  copper,  stone  and  earth, — gold  utensils,  looking-glasses  of 
stone,  and  human  skeletons.  Some  of  the  earthenware  vessels 
exhumed  from  them  are  exceedingly  curious.  One  kind  is 
composed  of  two  hollow  spheres,  each  about  three  inches  in 
diameter — connected  by  a  small  tube  placed  in  the  centre,  and 
by  a  hollow  arched  handle  above,  having  a  hole  on  the  upper 
side.  "  If  water  be  poured  into  this  hole,"  says  Mr.  Steven 
son,  "until  the  jar  is  about  half  full,  and  the  jar  be  then 
inclined,  first  to  one  side  and  then  to  the  other,  a  whistling 
noise  is  produced.  Sometimes  a  figure  of  a  man  stands  on 
each  jar,  and  the  water  is  poured  down  an  opening  in  its  head, 
and  by  the  same  means  the  noise  is  occasioned.  I  saw  one  of 
these  at  the  Carmelite  nunnery  at  Quito,  having  two  Indians 
upon  it,  carrying  a  corpse  on  their  shoulders,  laid  on  a  hollow 
bier  resembling  a  butcher's  tray ;  when  the  jar  was  inclined 
backwards  and  forwards,  a  plaintive  cry  was  heard,  resembling 
that  made  by  the  Indians  at  a  funeral.  The  jars  and  other 

*  Temple's  Travels  in  Pern,  vol.  iL  p.  43, 


132  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

utensils  were  of  good  clay,  and  well  baked;  which,  with  the 
ingenious  construction  just  alluded  to,  proves  that  the  Indians 
were  acquainted  with  the  art  of  pottery."*  Ulloa  describes 
the  drinking-vessels  as  being  generally  constructed  from  a  fine 
black  or  red  earth,  usually  of  a  round  shape,  with  a  handle  in 
the  middle,  the  mouth  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other  the  head 
of  an  Indian,  with  the  features  naturally  expressed.  Besides 
these,  there  were  many  larger  vessels.f 

The  axes  disinterred  from  the  huacas  differ  little  in  shape 
from  ours,  and  are  composed,  some  of  copperj  and  some  of  the 
gallinazo  stone :  spear-heads  of  the  latter  substance  are  also 
met  with,  and  heads  of  the  maize,  carved  in  stone  with  much 
delicacy  and  beauty.  From  the  tombs  at  Manta  and  Acatames 
have  been  obtained  emeralds  cut  into  various  shapes,  with  ac- 

*  Stevenson,  vol.  i.  p.  413.    Frezier,  274. 

f  Ulloa,  vol.  i.  pp.  495,  496. 

The  art  of  pottery  is  still  practised  by  the  natives  of  Peru  and 
Chile.  "  I  have  seen  some  jars  from  Melipilla  and  Penco,  which,  for 
shape  and  workmanship,  might  pass  for  Etruscan.  They  are  some 
times  sold  for  as  high  prices  as  fifty  dollars,  and  are  used  for  holding 
water.  They  are  ornamented  with  streaks,  and  various  patterns  in 
white  and  red  clay  where  the  ground  is  black,  and  where  it  is  red  or 
brown,  with  black  and  white.  Some  of  the  red  jars  have  these  orna 
ments  of  a  shining  substance,  that  looks  like  gold  dust,  which  is,  I 
believe,  clay  having  pyrites  of  iron ;  and  many  have  grotesque  heads, 
with  imitations  of  human  arms  for  handles,  and  ornaments  indented 
on  them.  But  excepting  in  the  forming  of  the  heads  and  arms,  I  do 
not  recollect  any  Chileno  vase  with  raised  decorations."  "  On  the 
Peruvian  vases  procured  from  the  tombs,  there  are  many  and  various 
patterns  in  relief,  but  I  have  not  seen  any  modern  Peruvian  pottery." 
—Graham's  Chile,  p.  142.  See  also  Ulloa,  vol.  i.  p.  324. 

J  Molina,  vol.  ii.  p.  21. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  133 

curate  precision — some  being  spherical,  others  cylindrical  or 
conical,  and  most  of  them  perforated  diametrically  or  otherwise. 

Among  the  gold  relics  are  nose-jewels,  ear-pendants,  col 
lars,  bracelets  and  idols.  The  latter  have  a  construction  pecu 
liar  to  the  Peruvian  workmanship.  They  are  of  full  length,  of 
one  piece,  hollow  within,  extremely  thin,  and  there  are  no 
vestiges  of  soldering.  Dr.  Meyen,  who  examined  some  of 
these  articles  in  the  museum  at  Lima,  says,  "  The  collection  of 
Peruvian  idols  of  gold  and  copper  is  very  remarkable."  "  These 
figures  are  very  curious,  for  they  have  not  been  cast  in  the 
mould,  but  formed  with  the  hammer."* 

From  one  of  the  huacas  of  Chimu  a  relic,  of  a  similar  descrip 
tion,  was  exhumed.  Ruschenberger  describes  it  as  "  a  fore-arm 
and  hand  of  gold."  "  It  was  about  six  inches  long,  hollow, 
without  any  seam,  and  had  three  holes  on  one  side,  and  a  single 
one  opposite,  like  those  in  the  joint  of  a  flageolet,  and  it  was 
supposed  to  have  been  used  as  a  musical  instrument."! 

The  mirrors  alluded  to  as  discovered  in  these  cemeteries  are 
of  two  kinds — one  composed  of  the  Inca  stone,  a  soft  opaque 
mineral,  and  the  other  of  the  gallinazo  stone  (obsidian),  which 
is  hard,  brittle  and  black.  They  are  generally  circular  in  their 

*  Meyen's  Voyage. 

f  Ruschenberger,  p.  382. 

As  might  be  anticipated  from  the  general  use  of  some  of  the 
metals,  particularly  gold  and  silver,  many  of  the  mines  in  Peru  pre 
sent  undoubted  signs  of  having  been  extensively  worked  in  the  times 
of  the  Incas. —  Ulloa,  vol.  i.  pp.  27,  486;  vol.  ii.  pp.  153,  164.  An 
idea  of  the  vast  amount  of  treasure  contained  in  some  of  the  mounds, 
may  be  obtained  from  the  fact,  that  in  the  year  1576,  a  Spaniard 
opened  a  huaca,  in  which  he  found  so  large  a  quantity  of  gold,  that 


134  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

shape,  from  three  inches  to  a  foot  and  a  half  in  diameter,  highly 
polished,  and  some  are  plane,  some  concave,  and  others  convex.* 
In  the  mounds  of  Chile,  besides  earthenware,  vases  of  marble 
have  been  found,  some  of  them  cut  and  polished  with  the 
greatest  perfection ;  and  also  axes  of  basalt,  and  occasionally 
edged  tools  of  hardened  copper.f 

There  are  also  found  in  the  huacas  and  graves,  ostrich 
feathers  from  the  plains  of  Buenos  Ayres ;  spades,  lances,  clubs 
and  other  implements  of  palm  wood;  marine  shells ;  dresses  of 
woollen  and  cotton  cloths;  small  images  appareled  in  garments 
similar  to  those  now  worn  by  the  Indians ;  small  pieces  of  gold 
in  the  mouths  of  the  dead ;  slips  of  silver  ;  rings  and  small  cups 
of  gold ;  quantities  of  maize ;  seeds  of  the  gourd ;  beds  or  strata 
of  banana  leaves;  the  bean  and  quinua  deposited  in  vases;  and 
mills  used  to  grind  the  maize.J  These  mills  consist  of  a  large 
stone  somewhat  hollowed  in  the  middle,  and  a  handle,  curved 
on  one  side,  which  was  used  by  pressing  the  ends  alternately 
upon  the  large  stone.§  Similar  articles  are  found  in  the  mines 
worked  by  the  ancient  Indians,  where  they  were  probably  em- 


the  royal  fifth  paid  into  the  treasury  of  Traxillo,  amounted  to  9362  oz. 
the  value  of  the  whole  being  upwards  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou 
sand  pounds  sterling. — Stevenson,  vol.  ii.  p.  121.  It  is  stated  in  the 
"  Diario  de  Lima"  for  1791,  that  from  the  year  1550  to  1590,  the 
king's  fifth  amounted  to  nearly  one  hundredthous  and  Castellanos  of 
gold,  worth  about  two  hundred  thousand  dollars. — Ruschenberger's 
Three  Years  in  the  Pacific,  p.  400. 

*  Ulloa,  vol.  i.  p.  495.  f  Molina,  vol.  i.  p.  21. 

|  Stevenson,  vol.  i.  pp.  414,  415, 166.  332,  366,  46. 

§  The  mills  used  in  Chile  for  grinding  maize  resemble  these. — 
Frezier^s  Voyage,  p.  67. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  135 

ployed  in  pulverizing  the  ores.*  Chica,  an  intoxicating  beve 
rage  prepared  from  the  maize,  is  also  found  in  the  huacas, 
preserved  in  jars.  The  cotton  cloths  are  often  of  a  very  fine 
texture,  ornamented  with  curious  figures  interwoven,  and  dyed 
with  indigo  and  other  colors.f 

Agriculture  and  Aqueducts.  The  Peruvians  and  some  of 
the  neighboring  nations  carried  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  to  a 
higher  stage  of  perfection,  than  any  of  the  American  nations. 
They  were  acquainted  with  the  use  of  manures,  and  surrounded 
their  fields  with  fences,  or  walls  of  clay,  sometimes  faced  with 
stone,  the  vestiges  of  which  are  still  visible. J  We  still  perceive 
the  indications  of  an  agricultural  population,  in  the  remains  of 
the  granaries,  in  which  the  maize  was  collected  and  stored. 
These  repositories  are  somewhat  similar  to  a  cistern,  and  are 
usually  walled  around,  either  with  roughly  hewn  stones  or  with 
adobes.  Their  depth  beneath  the  surface  of  the  earth  is  com 
monly  about  four  feet,  and  the  grain  still  found  in  them  is  gen 
erally  entire  and  sound  when  taken  out.§ 

In  consequence  of  the  narrow  extent  of  land  intervening 
between  the  mountains  and  the  sea,  the  rivers  in  this  region  are 
usually  of  small  size,  and  the  soil,  being  arid  and  sandy,  needs 
the  aid  of  artificial  irrigation.  Near  Pisco,  in  a  barren  country, 
are  ancient  pits  or  excavations,  made  in  search  of  humidity, 
wherein  they  planted  the  maize.||  To  such  an  extent  did  they 
carry  their  ingenious  efforts,  that  the  sides  of  the  steepest  moun- 

*  Stevenson,  vol.  i.  p.  369. 

f  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  372.   Ibid.  vol.  i.  pp.  387,  415 ;  vol.  ii.  p.  7. 
J  Molina,  vol.  ii.  pp.  14,  19. 

§  Stevenson,  vol.  ii.  pp.  138,  174  ;  vol.  i.  pp.  166,  374.  Garcillasso 
de  la  Vega,  vol.  ii.  p.  177.  ||  Stevenson,  vol.  i.  p.  359;  vol.  ii.  p.  6. 


136  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

tains  were  converted  into  productive  fields,  by  being  encircled 
with  terraces,  supported  by  stone  walls,  and  watered  by  canals.* 
"  Upon  the  sides  of  some  of  the  mountains,"  observes  Mr.  Tem 
ple,  "  were  the  remains  of  walls  built  in  regular  stages  round 
them,  from  their  base  to  their  summits,  forming  terraces  on 
which,  or  between  which,  the  Indians,  in  days  of  yore,  cultivated 
their  crops."f  Frezier  says  the  Indians  were  very  industrious 
in  conveying  the  waters  of  the  rivers  through  their  fields  and  to 
their  dwellings,  and  that  there  were  still  to  be  seen  in  many 
places,  aqueducts  formed  of  earth  and  stone,  and  carried  along  the 
sides  of  hills  with  great  labor  and  ingenuity.J  Humboldt  saw 
the  remains  of  walls  in  the  maritime  part  of  Peru,  along  which 
water  had  been  conducted  for  a  space  of  from  three  to  four 
miles,  from  the  foot  of  the  Cordilleras  to  the  coast.§  "  I  have 
had  various  opportunities,3'  says  a  more  recent  traveller,  "  of 
closely  examining  one  of  these  canals,  which  is  formed  at  the 
source  of  the  river  Sana,  on  the  right  bank,  and  extends  along 
a  distance  of  fifteen  leagues,  without  reckoning  sinuosities,  and 
which  consequently  supplied  a  vast  population;  particularly 
one  city,  whose  ruins  still  remain  in  the  vicinity  of  a  farm  now 
called  Cojal."||  These  aqueducts  were  often  of  great  magni 
tude,  executed  with  much  skill,  patience  and  ingenuity,  and 
were  boldly  carried  along  the  most  precipitous  mountains,  fre 
quently  to  the  distance  of  fifteen  or  twenty  leagues.1T  Many  of 

*  Mercurio  Peruano,  vol.  v.  p.  257.    Vega,  vol.  i.  p.  219. 
f  Temple's  Travels  in  Peru,  vol.  ii.  p.  39.  |  Frezier,  p.  262. 

§  Humboldt's  Political  Essay,  vol.  ii.  p.  31. 
j|  Vide  Foreign  Quarterly  Review,  vol.  xix.  p.  254. 
1{  Ulloa,  vol.  ii.  p.  28.    Robertson's  Hist.  Am.,  p.  238.    Vega, 
vol.  i.  p.  219. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  137 

them  consisted  of  two  conduits,  a  short  distance  apart;  the 
larger  of  these  was  for  general  use ;  the  other  and  smaller,  to 
supply  the  inhabitants  and  water  the  fields,  while  the  first  was 

cleansing  :*  a  circumstance  in  which  they  bear  a  striking  resem- 

r 
blance  to  those  of  Mexico.     They  also  conveyed  water  to  the 

most  distant  places  by  subterranean  conduits :  Garcillasso  de 
scribes  five  fountains  that  existed  in  the  Temple  of  the  Sun  at 
Cuzco,  and  which  were  used  for  sacred  purposes,  one  of  which 
he  saw  flowing, — the  others  having  become  dry.  It  is  probably 
one  of  these  fountains  which  now  supplies  the  Hospital  de  Na- 
turales ;  its  pipes  are  buried  under  the  earth  and  cannot  be 
traced,  and,  as  in  the  time  of  the  Peruvian  historian,  its  source 
is  unknown-!  At  Lanasca  there  is  also  a  fountain,  supplied 
through  subterranean  conduits,  the  source  of  which  has  never 
been  traced. J  Many  of  these  great  works  became  useless  after 
the  conquest,  from  their  very  magnificence,  for  their  pipes,  being 
made  of  gold,§  excited  the  cupidity  of  the  avaricious  Spaniards ; 
and  others  were  destroyed  from  mere  wantonness.  By  their  ruin, 
however,  an  idea  may  be  gathered,  of  the  extent  and  character 
of  the  natural  obstacles  against  which  the  natives  had  struggled 
in  their  attempts  to  till  the  soil ;  for  some  districts,  which  once 
were  rich,  fertile  and  productive,  are  now  sandy  and  arid  wastes, 
supporting  but  a  scanty  population. 

This  sketch  of  the  public  works  constructed  for  the  encour 
agement  of  agriculture  may  be  concluded  by  offering  two 
instances,  one  in  Peru  and  the  other  in  Chile,  which,  in  design 
and  execution,  are  worthy  of  modern  art.  Near  Caxamarca 
is  a  small  lake  hemmed  in  by  mountains,  which  is  connected 

*  For.  Q,.  Rev.,  vol.  xix.  p.  254.  f  Garcillasso,  vol.  i.  p.  173. 

\  Mercurio  Peruano,  vol.  v.  p.  257.  §  Ibid. 

18 


138  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

with  a  river  running  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  ridge,  by  an 
excavation  or  tunnel  cut  through  the  mountain;  so  that  the 
lake,  when  rising  above  its  proper  level,  is  prevented  from  flood 
ing  the  adjacent  lands.*  The  Salta  de  Agua,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Santiago,  is  formed  by  an  artificial  aqueduct,  cut  for  the  purpose 
of  drawing  off  a  portion  of  the  waters  of  the  river  Mapocho,  to 
irrigate  the  land  of  the  lower  plain.  For  the  accomplishment 
of  this  object,  "  they  cut  channels  through  the  granite  rock  from 
the  Mapocho  to  the  edge  of  the  precipice,  and  made  use  of  the 
natural  fall  of  the  ground,  to  throw  a  considerable  stream  from 
the  river  into  the  vale  below.  This  is  divided  into  numerous 
channels,  as  is  required,  and  the  land  so  watered  is  some  of  the 
most  productive  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  city."f 

Roads.  Few  of  the  monuments  of  the  American  nations 
have  been  viewed  with  more  curiosity  and  interest,  than  those 
great  public  roads,  which,  ages  ago,  when  these  signs  of 
civilization  were  yet  wanting  in  the  greater  part  of  Europe, 
were  constructed  with  such  skill  and  science,  such  perseverance 
and  boldness,  as  to  rank  them  with  the  proudest  remains,  of 
that  character,  on  the  soil  of  the  old  world.  These  works  were 
of  great  extent,  enormous  masses  of  stone  were  usually  quarried 
and  employed  in  their  formation,!  and  they  were  prosecuted 
with  such  indefatigable  patience  and  labor,  as  to  triumph  over 
the  most  formidable  natural  obstacles.  In  South  America  they 
were  not,  however,  confined  to  Peru,  but  their  vestiges  are  still 
to  be  discovered,  in  remote  regions,  whither  the  power  of  the 
Incas  never  extended.  They  form  one  of  the  characteristic 

*  Stevenson,  vol.  ii.  p.  174. 

f  Graham's  Chile,  pp.  212,  213,  214.    Molina,  vol.  ii.  p.  14. 

J  Humboldt's  Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  260. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  139 

signs  of  all  American  civilization,  and  are  far  from  owing  their 
origin  to  the  enterprise  and  ingenuity  of  the  Peruvian  sovereigns 
alone, — monarchs  who  were  nevertheless  ready  to  adopt,,  imi 
tate,  and  reproduce  upon  an  enlarged  scale,  the  inventions  they 
found  existing,  when  they  established  their  extensive  empire. 

The  rank  the  Peruvian  roads  occupy,  as  finished  structures, 
when  compared  with  the  ancient  roads  of  Europe,  is  clearly 
shown  by  the  testimony  of  one  who  had  examined  both.  "  We 
were  surprised,"  says  Humboldt,  "  to  find  at  this  place  ( As- 
suay),  and  at  heights  which  greatly  surpass  the  top  of  the  Peak 
of  TenerhTe,  the  magnificent  remains  of  a  road  constructed  by 
the  Incas  of  Peru.  This  causeway,  lined  with  freestone,  may 
be  compared  to  the  finest  Roman  roads  I  have  seen,  in  Italy, 
France  or  Spain.  It  is  perfectly  straight,  and  keeps  the  same 
direction  for  six  or  eight  thousand  metres.  We  observed  the 
continuation  of  this  road  near  Caxamarca,  one  hundred  and 
twenty  leagues  to  the  south  of  Assuay,  and  it  is  believed  in  the 
country  that  it  led  as  far  as  the  city  of  Cuzco."*  This  was 
one  of  the  celebrated  roads,  said  to  have  been  built  by  the  Incas 
from  Cuzco  to  Quito,  a  distance  of  five  hundred  leagues,  and 
whereon,  we  are  told,  news  could  be  communicated  by  the 
chasqui,  or  courier,  from  one  of  those  cities  to  the  other,  in  the 
space  of  six  days.f  For  the  accommodation  of  these  couriers, 
houses  were  erected  at  short  distances;  and  as  soon  as  a  message 
or  intelligence  was  received,  it  was  communicated  from  the  one 


*  Humboldt's  Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  241.     Stevenson,  vol.  ii.  p.  65. 

t  Vega,  vol.  i.  p.  291.  Adair  gives  an  instance  of  a  Chickasaw 
Indian,  who  ran  three  hundred  miles,  in  a  day  and  a  half  and  two 
nights.— Hist.  Indians,  p.  396. 


140  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

who  had  just  arrived  to  another,  who  hastened  on  rapidly  to  the 
next  post. 

One  of  these  great  roads  passed  through  the  plains  near 
the  sea,  and  the  other  over  the  mountains  in  the  interior.  Au- 
gustin  de  Carate  says,  that  for  the  construction  of  the  road  over 
the  mountains,  they  were  compelled  to  cut  away  rocks,  and  to 
fill  up  chasms,  often  from  ninety  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet 
deep,  and  that  when  it  was  first  made,  it  was  so  plain  and  level, 
that  a  carriage  might  easily  pass  over  it ;  and  of  the  other, 
which  pursued  a  less  difficult  route,  that  it  was  forty  feet  wide, 
and  as  it  was  carried  through  valleys,  in  order  to  avoid  the 
trouble  of  rising  and  descending,  it  was  constructed  upon  a  high 
embankment  of  earth.*  Pedro  de  Cieqa  de  Leon,  one  of  the 
conquerors,  speaks  also  of  the  former,  as  a  magnificent  and 
extraordinary  work,  both  with  respect  to  the  buildings  and 
magazines  which  were  constructed  along  its  borders,  and  to 
the  labor  which  must  have  been  employed  in  its  erection  ;f  and 
other  authors  describe  it  in  still  more  glowing  terms. 

It  has  been  intimated,  that  the  remains  of  these  ancient 
roads  in  South  America,  are  not  confined  to  Peru.  The  most 
northerly  ruins  of  this  kind,  yet  discovered,  are  to  be  seen  upon 
the  plains  of  Varinas  about  N.  Lat.  7°.  A  fine  road  is  to  be 
perceived,  between  Varinas  and  Canagua ;  it  is  a  causeway  of 
earth  fifteen  feet  high,  and  about  fifteen  miles  in  length,  and 


*  The  causeway  built  by  Shah  Abbas  the  Great,  from  Keskar  to 
Astrabad,  extended  three  hundred  English  miles,  was  twenty  yards 
broad,  and  was  raised  in  the  middle,  with  ditches  on  each  side. — 
Hanwatfs  Travels. 

t  Vega,  vol.  i.  pp.  492,  493. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  141 

crosses  a  level,  subject  to  inundation.*  Captain  Cochrane  ob 
served  the  remains  of  an  ancient  road  in  Colombia,!  near  the 
lake  of  Guativita ;  and  at  the  extreme  of  civilization  on  the 
south,  we  also  meet  with  the  vestiges  of  another.  The  Jesuit 
Imonsff,  in  a  letter  written  A.  D.  1716,  and  cited  by  Don  Luis 
de  La  Cruz  in  the  account  of  his  expedition  across  the  Pampas, 
speaks  of  a  road  on  the  south-eastern  frontier  of  Chile  "  which 
passes  to  the  other  side  of  the  Cordilleras,  so  much  esteemed  by 
the  Indians  for  its  excellence,  and  constructed  by  the  ancient 
inhabitants."! 

Baths  and  religious  ablutions.  At  Cuzco  are  the  remains 
of  baths;  and  near  Diezmo  we  find  similar  evidences  of  the  hab 
its  of  ablution  of  the  ancient  sovereigns.  This  bath  is  formed 
from  a  spring  of  good  water,  surrounded  by  a  few  stones,  put 
together  in  the  form  of  a  chair,  and  at  the  bottom  there  is  a 
hole,  shaped  something  like  a  foot.§ 

Caxamarca  was  once  distinguished  for  its  royal  baths, 
which  also  exist  to  this  day.  Two  stone  buildings  having  con 
venient  rooms,  each  contain  in  their  interior,  an  extensive  bath 
ing  place;  one  of  these  baths  is  five  yards  square,  and  two 
deep.  The  sides  and  bottom  are  formed  of  roughly  hewn 
stone,  and  there  are  steps  leading  down  to  the  bath  from  doors, 
which  open  into  the  adjoining  apartments.||  Similar  baths  are 
found  near  the  village  of  Banos,  in  Huamalies.H 

*  Humboldt's  Personal  Narrative.     Stevenson's  Twenty  Years 
in  S.  Am.,  vol.  ii.  p.  99.        f  Cochrane's  Travels,  vol.  ii.  p.  206. 
\  El  Mercurio  Chileno,  No.  vii.  p.  321. 
§  Smyth's  Narrative,  p.  33. 

II  Stevenson's  Twenty  Years  in  S.  Am.3  vol.  ii.  p.  138. 
T[  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  100.    Mercurio  Peruano,  vol.  v.  p.  259. 


142  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

The  lake  of  Titicaca  was  the  most  sacred  spot  in  all  Peru, 
and  is  mentioned  in  some  of  the  most  ancient  religious  tradi 
tions.  It  was  customary  for  the  natives  of  all  the  provinces 
subdued  by  the  Incas,  to  make  annual  pilgrimages  to  the  Tem 
ple  of  the  Sun,  which  was  built  upon  one  of  the  islands  of  the 
lake,  and  to  bring  with  them  offerings  of  gold  and  silver  and 
precious  stones,*  and  there  is  reason  to  believe,  to  bathe  in  the 
holy  waters.  The  island  where,  according  to  tradition,  Manco 
Capac  first  received  his  divine  commission,  was  formerly  a 
mountain,  and  was  afterwards  levelled  by  the  Incas.  "  Here 
the  first  Inca  Appeared,  and  here  also  was  a  magnificent  temple 
of  the  sun,  containing  an  immense  collection  of  riches,  which, 
to  save  from  the  rapacity  of  the  Spaniards,  the  Indians  are  re 
ported  to  have  thrown  into  the  lake."f 

The  Lake  of  Guativita,  in  Colombia,  situated  in  a  wild  and 
solitary  spot  on  the  ridge  of  the  mountains  of  Zipaquira,  is  also 
supposed  to  have  been  held  in  great  veneration  by  the  ancient 
inhabitants,  who  repaired  thither  to  perform  their  religious  ab 
lutions  ;  for  which  purpose  there  was  a  staircase  descending 
to  the  water,  the  remains  of  which  are  still  existing.  Beneath 
its  waters,  as  the  tradition  runs,  are  buried  immense  treasures, 
which  the  natives  are  said  to  have  thrown  into  the  lake,  on  the 
arrival  of  the  Spaniards ;  and  a  golden  image  has  been  recently 
recovered  from  it,  which  is  thought  to  resemble  the  objects  of 
Hindoo  worship.J 

*  Vega,  vol.  i.  p.  176.  f  Ulloa,  vol.  ii.  p.  166,  etc. 

I  Humboldt's  Pers.  Nar.,  vol.  v.  p.  814.  Mod.  Trav.  Colom 
bia,  p.  333.  The  graves  which  have  been  opened  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  lake,  contain  little  else  but  earthenware,  for  which  reason  it 
has  been  conjectured  that  on  the  decease  of  an  Indian,  his  riches  were 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  143 

Ruins  of  cities,  edifices  and  fortresses-  The  most  decided 
uniformity  in  style  and  method  of  construction,  is  observable  in 
all  the  buildings  and  monuments  of  the  civilized  nations  of  South 
America ;  and  the  evidences  are  clear,  that  all  the  more  finished 
structures  were  formed  upon  the  same  plan,  and  most  of  them 
copied  after  the  same  original  model.  The  natives  of  Tiahu- 
anaco,  remarks  Garcillasso  de  la  Vega,* — an  author  by  no  means 
inclined  to  disparage  the  subjects  of  his  eulogy,  the  Incas, — say 
that  all  its  buildings  were  constructed  before  the  time  of  the 
Incas,  who  built  the  fortress  of  Cuzco  in  imitation  of  them. 
This  report  receives  confirmation  from  the  circumstance,  that 
Tiahuanaco  was  adjacent  to  the  sacred  lake  of  Titicaca,  where 
Manco  Capac  and  Mama  Oello,  were  said  to  have  been  placed 
by  the  Sun,  their  parent.  When  they  founded  Cuzco,  the 
chief  city  of  their  new  empire,  it  is  natural  to  suppose,  that  its 
edifices  were  erected  after  the  fashion  of  those  of  Tiahuanaco, 
and  we  are  assured  that  the  buildings  of  Cuzco  became  the 
models  of  those  subsequently  constructed  by  the  Incas,  through 
out  their  dominions. 

Of  the  structures  at  Tiahuanaco  only  vague  descriptions 
exist,  but  sufficient  has  been  communicated  to  indicate  their 
grandeur,  and  massiveness.  Garcillasso  de  la  Vega  speaks  of  a 
long  wall,  "  of  which  the  stones  were  so  large  that  it  was 
impossible  to  comprehend  how  men  had  sufficient  power  to 

cast  into  the  lake,  as  a  tribute  of  respect  to  its  sanctity,  or  in  honor  of 
the  deity  worshipped  there.  The  Spaniards  have  endeavored,  but 
unsuccessfully,  to  drain  the  lake ;  from  the  soil  on  its  banks,  however, 
they  have  procured  many  valuable  articles,  sufficient  to  pay  the 
government  a  quinta  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  dollars. 
*  Vega,  vol.  i.  p.  127. 


144  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

transport  them;  for  it  is  certain  that  there  exist  nowhere  near 
this  place,  quarries  nor  rocks  whence  such  large  masses  could 
have  been  taken :  that  there  were  also  extraordinary  buildings, 
some  of  which  were  remarkable  for  their  great  doorways  or 
gates,  cut  out  of  an  entire  and  single  stone,  and  placed  upon 
stones  of  an  incredible  size,  some  of  which  were  thirty  feet  long, 
fifteen  thick,  and  six  high."  The  same  author  observes  that 
these  edifices  appeared  to  have  been  left  unfinished,*  but  there 
seems  more  reason  to  attribute  their  imperfect  state  to  the  ef 
fects  of  time  and  decay. 

Pedro  de  Cieqa,  whom  Garcillasso  de  la  Vega  seems  to  have 
followed,  in  his  account  of  Tiahuanaco,  confirms  this  statement. 
"  Tiaguanico  is  not  a  very  large  town,  but  it  is  deserving  of  no 
tice,  on  account  of  the  great  edifices  which  are  still  to  be  seen 
in  it :  near  the  principal  of  these,  is  an  artificial  hill  raised  on 
a  groundwork  of  stone.  Beyond  this  hill,  are  two  stone  idols 
resembling  the  human  figure,  and  apparently  formed  by  skilful 
artificers.  They  are  of  somewhat  gigantic  size,  and  appear 
clothed  in  long  vestments  differing  from  those  now  worn  by  the 
natives  of  these  provinces,  and  their  heads  are  also  ornamented. 
Near  these  statues  is  an  edifice,  which  on  account  of  its  anti 
quity,  and  the  absence  of  letters,  leaves  us  in  ignorance  of  the 
people  who  constructed  it ; — and  such  indeed  has  been  the 
lapse  of  time  since  its  erection,  that  little  remains  but  a  well- 
built  wall,  which  must  have  been  there  for  ages,  for  the  stones 
are  very  much  worn  and  crumbled.  In  this  place  also  there  are 
stones  so  large  and  so  overgrown,  that  our  wonder  is  excited  to 
comprehend  how  the  power  of  man  could  have  placed  them 

*  Vega,  vol.  i.  p.  127. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  145 

where  we  see  them.*  Many  of  these  stones  are  variously 
wrought,  and  some  having  the  form  of  men  must  have  been 
their  idols.  Near  the  wall  are  many  caves  and  excavations 
under  the  earth ;  but  in  another  place  more  to  the  west,  are 
other  and  greater  monuments,  consisting  of  large  gateways  and 
their  hinges,  platforms,  and  porches,  each  of  a  single  stone." 
"  What  most  surprised  me,  while  engaged  in  examining  and 
recording  these  things,  was  that  the  above  enormous  gateways 
were  formed  on  other  great  masses  of  stone,  some  of  which  were 
thirty  feet  long,  fifteen  feet  wide,  and  six  feet  thick.  Nor  can 
I  conceive  with  what  tools  or  instruments,  those  stones  were 
hewn  out,  for  it  is  obvious  that  before  they  were  wrought  and 
brought  to  perfection,  they  must  have  been  vastly  larger  than 
we  now  see  them.  Before  I  proceed  to  a  further  account  of 
Tiaguanico  I  must  remark  that  this  monument  is  the  most  an 
cient  in  Peru,  for  it  is  supposed  that  some  of  these  structures 
were  built  long  before  the  dominion  of  the  Incas,  and  I  have 
heard  the  Indians  affirm,  that  these  sovereigns  constructed  their 
great  buildings  in  Cuzco,  after  the  plan  of  the  walls  of  Tiagua 
nico,  and  they  add  that  the  first  Incas  were  accustomed  to  hold 
their  court  in  this  place."  Diego  d'Alcohaca,  also  cited  by 


*  In  some  of  the  quarries,  it  is  said,  there  remain  stones  much 
larger,  and  some  of  them  more  or  less  finished,  according  to  the  state 
they  were  in,  on  the  news  of  the  Spanish  invasion.  Near  Cuzco  is  a 
quarry  of  the  Incas',  where  may  be  seen  more  than  two  thousand 
blocks  of  stone,  some  of  great  size  and  left  in  an  unfinished  state : 
and  near  Cascas,  in  Caxamarca,  is  a  great  block,  thirteen  yards  in 
length,  and  about  one  in  thickness,  besides  another  in  a  rough  condi- 
dition,  ready  to  be  worked,  and  similar  in  its  dimensions  to  some  of 
those  at  Tiahuanaco. — Mer curio  Peruano,  vol.  v.  p.  261, 

19 


146  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

Vega,  adds  that  the  natives  believed,  that  these  buildings  were 
dedicated  to  the  Creator  of  the  Universe.* 

Cuzco.  The  little  that  has  been  preserved  of  the  ancient 
edifices  at  Cuzco,  confirms  the  description  of  the  style  and  size 
of  the  original  buildings  at  Tiahuanaco,  from  which  they 
are  said  to  have  been  copied.  Among  these,  we  find  the  re 
mains  of  a  fortress  upon  a  hill  near  the  city,  and  also  the  ruins 
of  the  Temple  of  the  Sun.  Their  walls,  parts  of  which  are  still 
in  perfect  preservation,  are  built  with  stones  of  great  magni 
tude  ;  and  though  of  a  polyangular  shape,  of  different  dimen 
sions,  and  laid  without  cement,  they  are  fitted  together  with 
extreme  nicety  and  precision.  The  stones  seldom  have  less 
than  from  six  to  nine  angles,  and  they  are  so  closely  and  firmly 
joined,  that  the  interstices  almost  escape  detection.!  Ulloa 
says,  the  design  appears  to  have  been  to  enclose  the  whole 
mountain  with  a  prodigious  wall,  and  that  the  interstices  of  the 
courses  of  stone  were  filled  with  smaller  stones.J  From  the 
palaces  of  the  Incas,  and  especially  from  the  Temple  of  the 
Sun,  there  were  subterranean  passages,  which  led  to  the  for 
tress,  through  which  the  kings  and  priests  could  flee  with  their 
treasures  and  idols,  in  case  of  an  invasion.  These  were  cut 
into  the  solid  rock,  and  with  such  skill  and  ingenuity,  and  so 

*  Pedro  de  Cie9a  Chronica  del  Peru,  cap.  105,  cited  in  Morton's 
Crania,  p.  100 ;  also  Acosta's  Hist,  etc.,  1.  6,  c.  14. 

f  The  same  peculiarity  in  the  arrangement  and  joining  of  the 
stones,  has  been  observed  in  the  Peruvian  dwellings. — Mercurio  Pe- 
ruano,  vol.  v.  p.  263. 

|  Mercurio  Peruano,  vol.  v.  p.  259.  Ulloa,  vol.  ii.  p.  132,  etc. 
Mod.  Trav.  Peru,  vol.  ii.  p.  291.  The  city  of  Cuzco  was  said  to  have 
been  founded  about  the  year  1043. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  147 

admirably  contrived,  that  there  were  particular  places,  in  which 
one  man  could  defend  the  passage  against  a  hundred.  The 
method  adopted  for  this  purpose,  consisted  in  excavating  the 
rock,  in  a  zig-zag  manner,  with  sharp  angles  or  projections, 
at  which  points  the  passage  was  contracted,  so  as  to  leave 
space  but  for  one  person  to  pass  at  a  time.  These  labyrinths 
were  still  observable,  at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  and  it  is 
said,  the  whole  city  was  found  to  be  undermined  with  them  :* 
they  appear  to  have  been  used  also  at  other  places,  and  are 
considered,  as  one  of  the  peculiarities  usually  attending  most  of 
the  Peruvian  fortresses. 

Cannar.  In  descending  from  the  Paramo  of  Assuay  towards 
the  south,  is  the  Inga-pilca,  or  the  fortress  of  Cannar,  crowning 
the  summit  of  a  hill.  "  This  fortress,"  says  Humboldt,  "  if  we 
can  so  call  a  hill  terminated  by  a  platform,  is  much  less 
remarkable  for  its  height  than  its  perfect  preservation."! 
Placed  upon  two  terraces,  a  wall  built  of  large  blocks  of  free 
stone  rises  to  the  height  of  eighteen  or  twenty  feet,  supporting 
and  enclosing  a  platform  of  earth.  This  platform  forms  a  regu 
lar  oval,  lying  in  the  direction  of  the  cardinal  points,  and  its 
great  axis  is  nearly  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  feet  in 
length.  "  The  interior  of  this  oval  is  a  flat  piece  of  ground 
covered  with  rich  vegetation,  which  increases  the  picturesque 
effect  of  the  landscape.  In  the  centre  of  the  enclosure,  is  a 
house  containing  only  two  rooms,  which  are  near  seven  metres 
in  height.  This  house  and  the  enclosure  form  part  of  a  system 

*  Mercurio  Peruano,  vol.  v.  p.  262. 

t  Humboldt's  Researches,  vol.  ii.  p.  195.  Ibid.  vol.  i.  pp.  242, 
247,  etc.,  258.  Ulloa  says  this  fortress  is  the  "most  entire,  the 
largest  and  best  built,  in  all  the  kingdom." — Ulloa,  vol.  i.  p.  501. 


148  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

of  walls  and  fortifications,"  "  which  are  more  than  one  hundred 
and  fifty  metres  in  length.  The  cut  of  the  stones,  the  disposi 
tion  of  the  doors  and  niches,  the  perfect  analogy  between  this 
edifice  and  those  of  Cuzco,  leave  no  doubt  respecting  the  origin 
of  this  military  monument,  which  served  as  a  lodging  to  the 
Incas,  when  those  princes  journeyed  occasionally  from  Peru  to 
the  kingdom  of  Quito."  The  stones  used  in  this  building  are 
not  of  great  size,  but  they  are  beautifully  cut  into  parallelopipe- 
dons,  with  perfect  precision,  the  outer  surface,  however,  being 
slightly  convex,  and  cut  slantingly  towards  the  edge,  so  that 
the  joints  form  small  flutings.  The  door-posts  are  inclined ;  in 
the  interior  are  niches  hollowed  into  the  walls,  and  between 
them  are  cylindrical  stones,  with  polished  surfaces  projecting 
from  the  wall.  The  greater  part  of  the  wall  is  apparently 
constructed  without  cement,  but  in  some  places  may  be  observed 
a  mortar,  composed  of  a  mixture  of  small  stones  and  argillaceous 
marl.* 

Near  Cannar  are  the  rocks  of  Inti-Guaicu,  and  the  Ynga- 
chungana.f  The  first  is  an  image  of  the  sun,  upon  a  mass  of 
sandstone,  partly  natural  and  partly  sculptured,  consisting  of 
several  concentric  circular  lines  enclosing  a  space,  in  which 
eyes  and  a  mouth  have  been  engraven.  "  The  foot  of  the  rock 
is  cut  into  steps,  which  lead  to  a  seat  hollowed  out  in  the  same 
stone,  and  so  placed,  that  from  the  bottom  of  the  hollow,  the 
image  of  the  sun  may  be  seen."  To  the  north  of  the  ruins,  upon 
the  side  of  a  hill,  were  the  gardens  attached  to  this  fortress,  and 

*  According  to  Ulloa,  a  species  of  mortar  of  uncommon  hardness, 
called  Sangagua,  was  used  by  the  ancient  Indians,  in  their  buildings. 
—  Ulloa,  vol.  i.  p.  268. 

f  Humboldt's  Researches,  vol.  i.  pp.  247,  253. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  149 

in  them  is  the  Ynga-chungana,  or  The  Sport  of  the  Inca,  being 
a  stone  seat  or  sofa  decorated  with  sculpture  in  arabesque,  and 
placed  so  as  to  command  a  most  delightful  prospect. 

Callo.  At  Callo,  about  ten  leagues  to  the  south  of  Quito, 
is  a  building  called  <e  The  Incas'  House."*  "  This  edifice  forms 
a  square,  each  side  of  which  is  thirty  metres  long.  Four  great 
outer  doors  are  still  distinguishable,  and  eight  apartments,  three 
of  which  are  in  good  preservation.  The  walls  are  nearly  five 
metres  high  and  one  thick.  The  doors,  similar  to  those  of  the 
Egyptian  temples;  the  niches,  eighteen  in  number  in  each 
apartment,  distributed  with  the  greatest  symmetry ;  the  cylin 
ders  for  the  suspension  of  warlike  weapons;  the  cut  of  the 
stones,  the  outer  side  of  which  is  conv expand  carved  obliquely, 
all  remind  us  of  the  edifice  at  Cannar."  Ulloa  says,  the  stones 
are  hard  as  flint  and  almost  black,  well  cut,  and  joined  so 
curiously  as  to  be  impenetrable  at  their  joints  to  the  point  of  a 
knife ;  that  no  cement  is  visible,  the  courses  are  unequal,  and 
that  small  and  large  stones  are  intermixed,  but  fitted  closely  to 
the  inequalities  of  each  other.  Humboldt,  however,  asserts  that 
the  stones  are  cut  into  parallelopipedons  and  laid  in  regular 
courses. 

Caxamarca.  Caxamarca  was  once  noted  for  possessing  a 
palace  and  baths.  The  remains  of  the  palace,  which  are  tri 
fling,  consist  only  of  a  part  of  a  wall,  the  stones  of  which  are 
irregular  in  their  shape,  but  smoothly  cut,  and  fitted  closely 
together.  At  the  distance  of  two  leagues,  is  a  monument  called 
The  Inga-Rirpo,  or  "  Resting-Stone  of  the  Inca."  It  is  placed 
within  a  circular  enclosure,  about  eight  yards  in  diameter,  on 

*  Hum.  Res.,  vol.  ii.  pp.  5,  7.  Ulloa,  vol.  i.  p.  499.  Stevenson, 
vol.  ii.  p.  342.  t  Ulloa,  vol.  i.  p.  500. 


150  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

the  ancient  road  running  from  Cuzco  to  Quito.  It  is  a  large 
block  of  freestone,  eleven  feet  long,  two  feet  eight  inches  high 
above  the  ground,  and  thirteen  inches  thick.  It  has  two 
grooves  cut  across  it,  near  to  the  centre,  four  inches  deep  and 
five  inches  wide.  "  The'  site  of  this  resting-stone  commands  a 
most  beautiful  prospect  of  the  valley  of  Caxamarca.  The  tra 
dition  of  the  Indians  is,  that  the  Inca  used  to  be  brought  here, 
to  enjoy  the  prospect,  and  that  the  two  grooves  in  the  stone 
were  made,  that  the  cross-ledges  of  the  stone,  on  which  he  was 
carried,  might  rest  secure  in  them."* 

Five  leagues  from  Caxamarca,  are  the  ruins  of  a  city  con 
structed  upon  a  singular  plan.  Many  of  the  houses  are  yet 
entire ;  they  are  all  built  of  stone,  and  encircle  a  small  moun 
tain.  In  the  lower  tier  or  range  of  houses,  the  walls  are  of 
amazing  thickness,  and  composed  of  stones,  some  of  which  are 
twelve  feet  long,  and  seven  feet  high — one  stone  forming  the 
whole  side  of  a  room,  with  one  or  more  large  slabs  laid  across, 
for  a  roof.  Some  of  the  walls  are  constructed  with  two  cas 
ings  of  stone,  and  the  interval  is  filled  up  with  pebbles  and  a 
mortar  of  clay,  the  whole  forming  a  mass  almost  equal  to  stone 
in  hardness.  "  Above  these  houses  another  tier  was  built  in 
the  same  manner,  on  the  back  of  which  are  the  entrances  or 
doorways ;  and  a  second  row  had  their  backs  to  the  mountain. 
The  roofs  of  the  second  tier  in  front  had  been  covered  with 
stone,  and  probably  formed  a  promenade ;  a  second  tier  of 
rooms  thus  rested  on  the  roofs  of  the  first  tier,  which  were  on 
a  level  with  the  second  front  tier.  In  this  manner  one  double 
tier  of  dwelling  houses  was  built  above  another,  to  the  height 
of  seven  tiers."  Thus,  there  were  six  circular  streets,  and 

*  Stevenson,  vol.  ii.  p.  164. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  151 

seven  terraces  of  buildings,  which  were  intersected  by  four 
roads  conducting  to  the  summit,  in  the  direction  of  the  cardinal 
points.  On  the  top  are  extensive  ruins  of  what  appears  to  have 
been  a  palace,  or  fortress.  The  whole  city  consists  of  erections 
of  stone,  and  not  of  excavations, — the  doorways  are  narrower 
at  the  top  than  at  the  bottom, — the  stones  have  been  hewn  into 
squares  of  irregular  size,  and  are  cemented  together  ; — there  are 
no  remains  of  sculpture  save  a  few  ornaments  in  arabesque ; 
and  the  mass  of  buildings  is  of  sufficient  extent,  to  have  con 
tained  several  thousand  families.* 

In  the  Paramo  of  Chulucanas,  is  the  ancient  city  of  that 
name,  between  the  Indian  villages  of  Ayavaca  and  Guanca- 
bamba,  on  the  ridge  of  the  Cordilleras.  It  is  situated  on  the 
slope  of  a  hill,  near  a  small  river.  The  houses  contain  but  one 
room  each,  the  streets  cut  each  other  at  right  angles,  and  the 
hill  is  divided  into  six  terraces,  each  platform  of  which  is  faced 
with  hewn  stone.f 

On  the  plain  of  Tacunga  are  the  remains  of  a  palace,  built 
of  hard  black  stones,  with  their  outer  surfaces  convex  and  fluted, 
like  those  at  Carinar  and  Callo.  Of  this  edifice  there  still  ex 
ist  a  large  court,  and  three  extensive  halls  forming  three  sides 
of  an  enclosure.J 

About  a  league  to  the  north  of  Diezmo,  are  the  ruins  of 
Tabo-inga,  or  Tambo-inca.  The  walls  of  most  of  the  dwell 
ings  are  standing,  from  the  height  of  from  two  to  eight  feet ; 
and  the  houses  appear  to  have  been  built  of  different  sizes  and 
shapes,  some  being  circular,  and  others  square.  They  are  gen- 

*  Stevenson,  vol.  ii.  pp.  169,  170,  174. 

f  Humboldt's  Researches,  vol.  ii.  pp.  198,  200. 

t  Stevenson,  vol.  ii.  p.  283. 


152  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

erally  separated  from  each  other,  and  have  all  been  constructed 
with  large  unhewn  stones,  the  interstices  being  filled  up  with 
smaller  ones,  and  the  whole  cemented  together.  About  two 
hundred  yards  to  the  north-north-west  are  the  ruins  of  a  temple, 
of  a  quadrangular  form,  with  a  flight  of  a  dozen  steps  on  two 
sides.  The  walls  are  quite  levelled  :  the  whole  seems  to  have 
been  surrounded  by  a  stone  wall  or  barrier,  which  included  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  plain.* 

In  the  following  description,  which  is  cited  at  length,  as 
containing  some  valuable  suggestions  upon  the  subject  of  Pe 
ruvian  architecture,  Mr.  Poepig  describes  the  ruins  of  Tambo- 
bamba,  which  are  found  a  few  leagues  from  Diezmo.  "  From 
the  great  extent  of  this  scattered  village,"  he  says,  "  we  may 
form  some  idea  of  its  ancient  consequence.  Such  of  the  houses 
as  are  still  left,  or  of  which  we  can  trace  the  remains,  lie  scat 
tered  without  any  seeming  regularity."  "  The  detached  build 
ings  are  pretty  equal  in  size,  and  are  separated  from  each  other 
by  small  intervals,  which  seem  to  indicate  that  each  was  sur 
rounded  by  a  court-yard.  This  very  same  style  of  building  is 
still  followed  by  the  Indians  of  the  Andes,  and  even  the  same 
mode  of  erecting  the  walls  has  continued  unchanged ;  if  we 
except  from  the  comparison  the  greater  negligence  of  the  Pe 
ruvians  of  the  present  day.  The  walls  are  built  in  a  circular 
form,  are  from  thirty  to  forty  paces  in  their  outer  circumference, 
and  from  six  to  ten  feet  in  height."  The  materials  consist  of 
stones  cemented  together  by  a  tough  kind  of  earth,  which  has 
become  exceedingly  indurated.  "The  most  remarkable  fea 
tures,  in  the  architecture  of  these  ruins,  are  the  pointed  or  bell- 
shaped  roofs,  which  are  composed  of  smallers  tones,  embedded 

*  Smyth's  Narrative,  pp.  33,  34. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  153 

in  indurated  clay.  Ulloa  says  very  decidedly  that  nothing  is 
known  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Peruvians  roofed  their 
houses,  but  that  it  was  most  probable  they  were  covered  with 
flat  wooden  roofs,  as  no  trace  of  vaults  or  arches  has  been  dis 
covered  amid  the  ruins,  and  every  thing  indicated  that  the  key 
stone  was  altogether  unknown  in  that  age.  The  few  remain 
ing  domes  of  the  roofs  of  Tambo-bamba,  are  in  the  form  of  a 
bell,  and  from  twelve  to  fifteen  feet  high.  In  the  thatched 
roof  of  the  modern  Indians,  we  trace  the  exact  imitation  of 
these  ancient  buildings,  and  I  was  told  that  the  use  of  cupolas 
for  similar  small  Indian  buildings  is  still  very  common  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Cuzco."*  In  corroboration  of  the  views  en 
tertained  by  this  author,  it  may  be  mentioned,  that  from  the 
remains  of  some  buildings  in  the  islands  of  Capachica,  it  is  as 
serted  that  the  Peruvians  had  made  some  approach  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  arch :  but  these  ruins  are  not  sufficiently  de 
scribed,  to  afford  a  solution  of  this  interesting  question.! 

Near  the  village  of  Supe,  in  the  valley  of  Huaura,  are  the 
ruins  of  an  ancient  town,  built  upon  the  side  of  a  rocky  eleva 
tion.  Galleries  have  bgen  cut  into  the  rock,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  room  for  their  small  houses,  many  remains  of  which  are 
visible,  and  also  of  small  parapets  of  stone  raised  above  them, 
so  that  the  hill  has  the  appearance  of  a  fortified  place.  At  a 
short  distance,  are  the  ruins  of  another  town  on  an  elevated 
plain-! 

The  Peruvians  and  neighboring  nations  also  constructed 

*  Poepig's  Travels,  as  cited  above, 
f  Mercuric  Peruano,  vol.  v.  p.  262. 
|  Stevenson,  vol.  i.  p.  412. 

20 


154  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

edifices  of  unburnt  brick.*  In  the  vicinity  of  Palca,  on  the  road 
from  Arica  to  the  lake  of  Puno  or  Titicaca,  Dr.  Meyen  observed 
some  ancient  buildings  of  this  character.  "  The  square  towers, 
which  occur  in  this  neighborhood,  are  particularly  curious. 
They  are  about  twenty  feet  high,  eight  broad,  and  built  entirely 
of  unburnt  brick.  Bands  of  metal  are  occasionally  inserted, 
to  give  them  greater  firmness.f  One  of  these  obelisks  was 
damaged  at  its  base,  which  enabled  us  to  discover,  that  it  was 
not  hollow,  but  quite  filled  up.  On  questioning  the  country 
people  about  these  buildings,  they  merely  said,  "  They  are  of 
the  times  of  the  Kings,"  that  is,  of  "  the  Incas."  In  the  imme 
diate  vicinity  of  Palca,  we  counted  seven  of  these  obelisks,  three 
of  which  stand  almost  close  together.  As  they  have  not  been 
painted,  the  natural  color  of  the  clay  gives  them  a  very  sombre 
and  dreary  appearance.  We  met  with  them  also  in  some  other 
places,  in  the  vicinity  of  Puno  for  instance."! 

Near  Lurin,  a  bathing  place  in  the  vicinity  of  Lima,  are  the 
ruins  of  the  city  of  Pachacamac.  They  lie  in  a  fertile  valley, 
and  are  supposed  to  be  the  relics  of  a  place  of  great  opulence, 
which  was  in  a  flourishing  condition  vfyen  first  visited  by  Fran 
cisco  Pizarro,  in  1533,  and  was  then  distinguished  for  a  re 
markable  temple  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  Pachacamac.  Mr. 

*  Condamine's  Memoirs.     Molina,  vol.  ii.  p.  20. 

f  The  stones  of  some  of  the  edifices  at  Cuzco,  are  said  to  have 
been  fastened  or  clamped  together  by  bands  of  silver  and  gold ;  and 
it  was  asserted  in  1792,  that  to  that  day,  there  might  yet  be  seen,  in 
the  walls  of  the  Portal  of  the  Convent  of  St.  Domingo  at  that  place, 
the  remains  of  the  silver  which  was  infused  between  the  stones,  in 
order  to  unite  them  the  more  firmly.  Mercurio  Peruano,  vol.  v.  p.  259. 

I  Meyen's  Voyage  round  the  world,  Berlin,  1834 ;  in  For.  Q,uar. 
Rev.  No.  xxix.  p.  12. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  155 

Ruschenberger  considers  these  ruins  to  be  the  remains  of  the 
temple  of  that  god.* 

At  a  short  distance  from  Lima,  on  the  northern  road,  are 
vestiges  of  an  ancient  town  called  Concon.  The  walls,  like 
those  of  Pachacamac,  are  built  of  adobe,  or  sun-burnt  brick,  are 
of  considerable  thickness,  and  are  still  standing,  in  some  places, 
to  the  height  of  nine  or  ten  feet.  The  situation  of  these  re 
mains  is  immediately  at  the  foot  of  a  hill,  which  appears  to  have 
been  fortified,  and  encircled  with  thick  walls,  portions  of  which 
are  still  visible.f 

On  the  right-hand  side  of  the  road  from  Callao  to  Lima,  may 
be  observed  other  ruins,  formed  of  clay  or  adobes ;  the  walls  of 
some  of  the  dwellings  are  about  two  feet  thick,  and  six  feet 
high-J  Near  the  town  of  Cayambe,  Ulloa  saw  the  remains  of  a 
temple  built  of  unburnt  brick.  It  stood  on  an  eminence,  its 
figure  was  circular,  and  its  diameter  was  about  fifty  feet.  The 
walls  are  fifteen  feet  high,  from  four  to  five  feet  thick,  and 
the  bricks  are  cemented  together  with  clay  :  this  edifice  is  sup 
posed  to  have  been  dedicated  to  Pachacamac.§ 

According  to  Ulloa,  one  of  the  ancient  methods  of  fortifica 
tion  consisted  in  digging  three  or  four  ranges  of  moats  quite 
around  the  tops  of  high  and  steep  mountains,  and  protecting 
them,  on  the  inside,  by  parapets.  These  were  called  pucuras, 
and  within  the  last  range  of  moats,  were  the  barracks  for  the 
garrison ;  in  some  of  these,  the  outward  circumvallation  was 

*  Smyth's  Narrative  of  a  Journey  from  Lima  to  Para,  p.  \.     Ste 
venson,  vol.  i.  p.  144.     Ruschenberger,  p.  300. 
f  Smyth's  Narrative,  p.  17. 

\  Mod.  Trav.  Peru,  vol.  ii.  p.  23.     Stevenson,  vol.  i.  p.  140, 
§  Ulloa,  vol.  i.  p.  498.     Stevenson,  vol.  ii.  341. 


156  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

above  a  league  in  extent.  His  remark,  that  fortresses  of  this 
kind  are  so  numerous  that  one  scarce  meets  with  a  mountain 
without  them,  is  justified,  in  a  great  measure,  by  the  observa 
tions  of  more  recent  travellers.* 

Near  the  village  of  Banos,  in  Huamalies,  are  the  ruins  of  a 
large  building,  somewhat  similar  to  those  of  Cannar  and  Callo, 
and  of  a  circular  temple ;  and  on  the  tops  of  two  mountains, 
one  situated  on  each  side  of  the  river,  are  the  remains  of  two 
fortresses.  In  the  construction  of  these  fortifications,  the  sides 
of  the  mountains  have  been  divided  into  galleries  ranged  one 
above  another,  in  some  parts  formed  by  artificial  breastworks, 
and  in  others  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock,  the  breastwork  being 
left  in  solid  stone.f 

Near  the  road  from  Potosi  to  Tacua,  upon  an  eminence,  are 
the  remains  of  an  ancient  city.  On  one  side  it  was  protected 
by  a  deep  ravine,  and  it  was  surrounded  by  a  rampart  of  stone 
work.  The  walls  have  openings  or  embrasures,  and  the  stones 
are  "  dovetailed  together  in  a  very  singular  manner.  In  the 
centre  of  the  place  was  a  citadel,  reserved  as  a  last  retreat  from 
hostile  attack."J 

In  the  vicinity  of  Guambacho  are  the  remains  of  an  extensive 
line  of  fortifications ;  the  wall  runs  along  the  side  of  a  lofty 
mountain,  close  to  the  sea,  is  entire  in  many  parts,  and  appears 
to  have  been  built  with  rude  bastions.§ 

Near  Patavilca,  and  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles 


*  Ulloa,  vol.  i.  p.  504.     Stevenson,  vol.  ii.  pp.  342,  etc. 

f  Mercuric  Peruano,  vol.  v.  p.  259.    Stevenson,  vol.  ii.  pp.  100, 101. 

J  Andrews'  Travels  in  S.  Am.,  vol.  ii.  p.  161. 

§  Stevenson,  vol.  i.  pp.  312. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  157 

from  Lima,  is  a  place  called  Paramonga,  or  The  Fortalesa. 
"  The  ruins  of  a  fortified  palace  of  very  great  extent  are  here 
visible;  the  walls  are  of  tempered  clay,  and  about  six  feet 
thick.  The  principal  building  stood  upon  an  eminence,  but 
the  walls  were  continued  to  the  foot  of  it  like  regular  circuin- 
vallations;  the  ascent  winded  round  the  hill,  leaving  many 
angles,  which  probably  served  as  outworks  to  defend  the  place. 
It  is  supposed  to  have  belonged  to  the  Chimu  or  King  of  Man- 
sichi,  and  was  a  frontier  palace  during  the  time  of  the  Incas." 
Not  far  from  the  Fortalesa  are  the  ruins  of  an  extensive  town.* 
The  valley  of  Guarmey  contains  the  ruins  of  an  ancient  fortress, 
and  also  a  structure  similar  in  design  to  the  wall  of  Tlascala, 
in  Mexico.  The  valley,  it  is  said,  is  crossed  by  the  vestiges  of 
a  wall,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  built  by  the  Grand 
Chimu  in  his  last  war  with  the  Incas.f  Similar  military  works 
have  been  discovered  in  many  other  places  in  Peru ;  and  also 
in  Chile,!  where,  amongst  others,  the  remains  of  an  ancient 
fortress  are  to  be  observed  near  the  river  Cuchapoal.§ 

Sculpture.  The  dexterity  of  these  people  in  cutting  stone, 
and  other  hard  substances,  excites  our  amazement. ||  Humboldt 

*  Ulloa,  vol.  ii.  p.  27.     Stevenson,  vol.  ii.  pp.  22,  23. 

In  the  plain  on  which  the  city  of  Truxillo  is  situated,  called  del 
Chimu,  are  the  remains  of  what  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  ancient 
residence  of  the  Chimu.  They  appear  like  the  foundations  of  a 
large  city,  or  the  walls  of  a  garden  crossing  each  other  at  right  an 
gles. — Stevenson,  vol.  ii.  p.  121.  Ruschenberger,  p.  381. 

t  Ruschenberger,  p.  361.  J  Frezier,  p.  262. 

§  Molina,  vol.  ii.  pp.  10,  68. 

||  The  Jesuit's  College  at  Quito,  a  beautiful  piece  of  architec 
ture  and  sculptured  workmanship,  was  constructed  by  the  Indians, 
under  the  direction  of  Father  Sanches,  a  native  of  Quito.  In 


158  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

brought  from  South  America  a  ring  of  obsidian,  which  had 
been  a  girl's  bracelet,  and  was  in  the  form  of  a  very  delicate, 
hollow,  perforated  cylinder :  "  we  can  scarcely  conceive,"  he 
remarks,  "  how  a  vitreous  and  fragile  substance  could  be  re 
duced  to  the  state  of  so  thin  a  plate."*  At  Patavilca  we  find 
sculptures  in  porphyry,  basalt  and  other  hard  stones,  and  every 
where  through  Peru,  similar  evidences  of  the  ancient  skill,  in 
cutting  the  hardest  of  rocks,  abound.f  The  axes  of  basalt,  the 
marble  vases  and  the  sculptured  rocks  in  Chile ;  and  the  engraved 
Calendar  Stone,  and  the  head  found  by  Humboldt  amongst  the 
Muyscas,  indicate  that  these  signs  of  civilization  are  not  con 
fined  within  the  boundaries  of  the  Peruvian  empire.f  The  dis 
tinguished  traveller  just  mentioned,  from  the  observation  of  the 
great  perfection  of  these  sculptures,  was  induced  to  believe,  that 
tools  of  copper  had  been  used  in  their  formation ;  and  he  adds, 
that  this  conjecture  has  been  justified,  by  the  discovery  of  an 
ancient  Peruvian  chisel,  found  at  Villacamba,  near  Cuzco,  in 
a  silver  mine  worked  in  the  time  of  the  Incas,  consisting  of 
ninety-four  parts  of  copper  and  six  of  tin.J  Some  of  the  arti- 

Chile  "in  the  plains  and  upon  most  of  the  mountains,"  says 
Molina,  "are  to  be  seen  a  great  number  of  flat  circular  stones, 
of  five  or  six  inches  in  diameter,  with  a  hole  through  the  middle. 
These  stones  which  are  either  granite  or  porphyry  have  doubtless 
received  this  form  by  artificial  means,  and  I  am  induced  to  believe 
that  they  were  the  clubs  or  maces  of  the  ancient  Chilians,  and  that 
the  holes  were  perforated  to  receive  the  handles." — Molina,  vol.  i. 
p.  56. 

*  Humboldt's  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  257.     Stevenson,  vol.  ii.  p.  23. 

t  Frezier,  p.  135.  Molina,  vol.  ii.  p.  25.  Humboldt's  Researches, 
vol.  ii.  p.  205. 

i  Humboldt's  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  260. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  159 

cles  found  in  the  mounds  are  also  composed  of  hardened  copper ; 
and  Dr.  Meyeri,  in  speaking  of  the  collection  of  antiquities  in 
the  Museum  at  Lima,  says,  "  the  ancient  weapons  are  of  cop 
per,  and  some  are  of  exquisite  manufacture." 

Traces  of  the  art  of  cutting  and  working  in  stone  are  not 
confined,  even,  to  the  extensive  region  just  indicated.  In  the 
province  of  Cujo,  in  Chile,  between  the  cities  of  Mendoza  and 
La  Punta,  upon  a  low  range  of  hills,  on  a  large  stone  pillar, 
called  "  The  Giant,"  certain  marks  or  inscriptions  have  been 
observed ;  and  near  the  Diamond  river,  upon  another  stone, 
besides  some  ciphers,  or  characters,  are  the  figures  of  several 
animals,  and  "  the  impressions7'  of  human  feet*  Passing  far 
to  the  north,  on  the  banks  of  the  Orinoco  and  in  various  parts 
of  Guiana,  there  are  rude  figures  traced  upon  granite  and  other 
hard  stones,  some  of  them,  like  those  in  the  United  States,  cut 
at  an  immense  height  upon  the  face  of  perpendicular  rocks. 
They  represent  the  sun  and  moon,  tigers,  crocodiles,  and  snakes, 
and  occasionally  they  appear  to  be  hieroglyphical  figures  and 
regular  characters.! 

It  is  unnecessary,  after  having  thus  examined  the  testimony 
of  numerous  travellers,  to  enter  into  any  labored  argument 
for  the  confutation  of  the  observation  of  Robertson,  who  con 
cludes  a  brief  description  of  the  state  of  society  in  Peru  by 
saying,  "  in  all  the  dominions  of  the  Incas,  Cuzco  was  the  only 
place  that  had  the  appearance,  or  was  entitled  to  the  name,  of 
a  city ;"  for  the  extent  of  some  of  these  ruins,  and  the  traces  of 
the  great  skill  and  patient  labor,  with  which  the  most  barren 
soils  were  cultivated  and  rendered  fertile  and  productive,  prove 

' 

*  Molina,  vol.  i.  p.  270. 

t  Humboldt's  Pers.  Narr.,  vol.  v,  pp.  593,  595.     Vol.  4.  p.  499. 


160  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 

beyond  contradiction  the  existence  of  an  ancient  agricultural 
population,  and  their  association  in  large  communities  and 
cities.  Nor  are  these  evidences  of  civilization  confined  to  the 
isolated  instances  which  have  been  cited ;  "  up  even  to  the  very 
tops  of  the  mountains,  that  line  the  valleys  through  which  I  have 
passed,"  remarks  Mr.  Temple,  "  I  observed  many  ancient  ruins, 
attesting  a  former  population,  where  now  all  is  desolate."* 
"  In  proceeding  on  our  journey  from  Guarmey,"  says  Ulloa, 
"  we  met  with  a  great  many  remains  of  the  edifices  of  the 
Incas.  Some  were  the  walls  of  palaces,  others,  as  it  were, 
large  dikes  by  the  sides  of  spacious  highways,  and  others  for 
tresses  or  castles,  properly  situated  for  checking  the  inroads  of 
enemies."!  Humboldt  states,  that  these  ruin^  are  scattered 
along  the  ridges  of  the  Cordilleras,  from  the  thirteenth  degree 
of  south  latitude,  to  the  equator,  and  that  he  counted  nine 
of  them,  between  the  Paramo  of  Chulucanas,  and  Guanca- 
bamba.{ 

But  in  examining  the  line  of  civilization,  as  indicated  at 
present  by  these  ancient  remains,  which  is  found  to  commence 
on  the  plains  of  Varinas,  and  to  extend  thence  to  the  ruins  of 
the  stone  edifices,  which  were  observed  about  the  middle  of  the 
last  century,  on  the  road  over  the  Andes,  in  the  province  of 
Cujo,  in  Chile ;  or  to  the  road  described  by  the  Jesuit  Imonsff; 
or  to  the  ancient  aqueducts  upon  the  banks  of  the  river  May- 
pocho,  in  south  latitude  thirty-three  degrees  sixteen  minutes ; 
we  are  surprised  to  discover  a  continuous,  unbroken  chain  of 
these  relics  of  aboriginal  civilization.  Reverting  to  the  epoch 

*  Travels  in  Peru,  vol.  ii.  p.  43. 

t  Ulloa,  vol.  ii.  p.  27.    Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  503. 

J  Humboldt's  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  255.     Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  198. 


AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  161 

of  their  construction,  we  are  presented  with  the  astonishing 
spectacle  of  a  great  race  cultivating  the  earth  and  possessing 
many  of  the  arts,  diffused  at  an  early  period  through  an  im 
mense  territory,  three  thousand  miles  in  extent.  Even  up  to 
the  time  of  the  discovery,  most  of  this  vast  region  was  occupied 
by  populous  tribes,  who  were  dependent  upon  agriculture  for 
subsistence,  were  clothed,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  regular  sys 
tems  of  religion,  and  their  own  peculiar  forms  of  government. 
From  conquest  and  various  causes,  some  sovereignties  had 
increased  more  rapidly  than  others ;  but  still,  whether  we  are 
guided  by  the  testimony  of  the  Spanish  invaders,  or  by  the 
internal  evidence  yet  existent  in  the  ancient  ruins,  it  is  impos 
sible  not  to  trace,  alike  in  their  manners,  customs  and  physical 
appearance,  and  in  the  general  similitude  observable  in  the 
character  of  their  monuments,  that  they  were  all  members  of 
the  same  family  of  the  human  race,  and  probably  of  identical 
origin. 

Clearly,  then,  it  is  a  great  error  to  suppose,  that  the  Peru 
vian  empire  embraced  within  its  limits  all  the  civilized  tribes. 
Indeed  the  Incas,  themselves,  acknowledged  the  existence,  at 
Tiahuanaco,  of  ancient  structures  of  more  remote  origin,  than 
the  era  of  the  foundation  of  their  empire ;  and  which  were  con 
fessedly  the  models  of  those,  erected  by  them  in  their  own  do 
minions, — an  admission  fully  proved  by  an  examination  of  their 
edifices.  This  fact  attaches  great  interest  to  the  sacred  lake 
of  Titicaca,  and  its  environs,  which  we  are  led  to  consider  as  an 
ancient,  perhaps  the  most  ancient,  locality  of  South  American 
civilization.  It  indicates  also  two  epochs  of  the  arts,  one  of 
remote  antiquity,  and  the  other  of  modern  date ;  and  exhibits, 
in  that  respect,  a  striking  parallelism  with  Mexico. 

21 


PART  II. 

RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 
HISTORY  OP  THE  RED  RACE, 


CHAPTER    I. 

COMPARISON   OF    THE   ANCIENT   MONUMENTS. 

THE  various  topics  of  interest,  connected  with  the  history  of 
the  aborigines  of  America,  are  naturally  resolved  into  two  great 
divisions.  Of  these,  the  first  includes  several  important  ques 
tions  relating  to  their  history,  since  the  original  migration  to 
this  continent,  and  the  second  respects  the  solution  of  the  pro 
blem  of  their  origin ;  the  first  is  confined,  in  its  discussion,  to  a 
review  of  the  ancient  monuments  which  have  been  described, 
and  to  an  examination  of  the  traditions,  languages,  customs,  and 
institutions  of  the  respective  tribes  and  nations,  and  the  second 
involves  a  comparison  with  several  of  the  nations  of  the  eastern 
hemisphere.  Many  facts,  however,  are  common  links  to  the 
chain  of  each  investigation,  and  it  is  impossible,  therefore,  to 
comprehend  their  full  force,  in  either  case,  until  the  argument 
in  relation  to  both  is  finally  determined. 

Having,  at  this  point,  examined  the  ancient  ruins,  in  a 
manner  too  general  perhaps  to  present  a  graphic  description, 


164  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

but,  it  is  hoped,  with  a  minuteness  sufficient  for  the  comprehen 
sion  of  their  style  and  character,  we  are  led  to  inquire,  whether 
they  present  any  indications  of  having  proceeded  from  the  same 
race.  It  has  already  been  seen  that  they  appear  to  be  capable 
of  an  arrangement  into  three  groups ;  those  found  in  the  United 
States  composing  one ;  those  in  Mexico  and  the  adjacent 
states  constituting  another ;  and  the  third  consisting  of  such  as 
have  been  discovered  in  South  America.  It  is  true,  that  each 
of  these  three  leading  divisions  embraces  the  productions  of  art 
of  many  distinct  nations,  differing,  as  it  is  reasonable  to  antici 
pate,  in  various  minor  and  unimportant  details ;  but  we  still  find 
striking  analogies  which  indicate  their  common  origin.  In  a 
comparison  of  the  groups  themselves,  the  same  remark  is  appli 
cable,  and  while  we  discern  much  that  appears  peculiar  and 
original  in  the  arts  and  civilization  of  each,  there  are,  also, 
certain  decided  marks  of  a  primitive  connection,  between  these 
three  great  families, — just  such  traces  of  relationship,  indeed, 
as  might  be  presumed  would  have  survived,  after  the  lapse  of 
many  ages  since  their  separation. 

The  style  of  architecture,  among  semi-civilized  nations, 
depends  greatly  upon  the  materials  wrhich  abound  in  their  ter 
ritory  ;  and  even  with  the  same  people,  a  change  often  takes 
place  in  the  aspect  and  formation  of  their  structures,  produced 
by  revolutions,  political  causes,  or  a  migration  from  one  district 
to  another  of  a  more  or  less  favorable  character.  This  may  be 
observed  in  Egypt  and  India,  as  well  as  in  America,  and  may 
serve  to  explain  such  differences  as  manifestly  exist  between 
the  ancient  edifices  in  the  United  States,  Mexico,  and  South 
America.  In  view,  then,  of  the  very  remote  period  at  which 
the  original  separation  of  the  aborigines  occurred,  and  of  the 


HISTORY   OF  THE  RED  RACE.  165 

physical  peculiarities  distinguishing  the  particular  districts  into 
which  they  proceeded,  in  the  progress  of  this  inquiry  we  should 
have  constant  reference  to  the  natural  aspect  of  each  locality, 
and  should  prefer  a  comparison  of  the  most  ancient  monuments, 
and  such  as,  from  their  connection  with  religion,  were  the  least 
exposed  to  change  and  innovation. 

Near  lake  Titicaca,  on  the  plains  of  Tiahuanaco,  in  Peru, 
are  the  remains  of  what  has  been  generally  esteemed  as  the 
most  ancient  temple  in  South  America,  and  which  was  reli 
giously  copied  by  the  Incas,  in  their  sacred  edifices :  and  ac 
cording  to  the  authorities,  it  was  an  enormous  terraced  pyramid, 
faced  with  stone,  and  dedicated  to  the  Creator  of  the  universe. 
The  Temple  of  the  Sun  at  Pachacamac  was  built  upon  an  arti 
ficial  hill  or  mound.  At  other  places,  in  the  same  country, 
structures  which  have  been  denominated  fortresses,  upon  uncer 
tain  conjecture,  were  apparently  built  in  the  same  terraced 
style.  The  temple  at  Diezmo  was  elevated,  and  approached 
by  means  of  a  flight  of  steps  on  two  sides ;  the  "  fortress" 
at  Cannar  was  a  building  erected  upon  an  oval  platform  of 
earth,  supported  by  two  terraces,  the  axes  of  which  were  in  the 
direction  of  the  cardinal  points ;  the  "  fortresses"  at  Huamalies 
were  hills  regularly  terraced  to  their  summits ;  the  same  was 
the  case  with  the  mount  which  supported  the  "palace"  at  Pata- 
vilca;  and  we  find  similar  terraced  hills,  even  in  Chile.  If 
some  of  these  were  religious  structures,  consecrated  to  the  Deity, 
or  to  the  Sun,  we  may  regard  them  as  the  remains  of  those 
magnificent  "  Temples  of  the  Sun,"  spoken  of  by  the  early 
authors,  or  at  least  as  the  terraced  pyramids,  partly  or  wholly 
artificial,  which  supported  those  sacred  edifices. 

In  Mexico  and  the  neighboring  states*  we  know  that  the 


166  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE   ORIGIN  AND 

Teocalli,  or  "  Houses  of  God,"  or  Houses  of  the  Sun,— for  the 
word  "  Teotl,"  the  appellation  of  the  Supreme  Being,  was  also 
used  to  denote  that  luminary, — were  regular  terraced  pyramids, 
supporting  chapels  which  contained  the  images  of  their  idolatry. 
Indeed,  the  two  great  pyramids  of  Teotihuacan  were  dedicated, 
respectively,  to  the  Sun  and  Moon,  and  those  which  surrounded 
them  to  the  Stars. 

In  the  United  States,  we  have  some  specimens  of  the  ter 
raced  pyramid,  preserved  to  this  day,  though  immense  mounds 
of  earth,  without  stages,  most  usually  supplied  its  place.  Oc 
casionally  we  perceive  that  the  terraces  have  almost  disap 
peared,  but  in  other  instances  they  are  plainly  visible.  "  The 
great  mound  at  Cahokia,"  observes  Mr.  Brackenridge,  "  is  evi 
dently  constructed  with  as  much  regularity,  as  any  of  the  Teo 
calli  of  New  Spain ;  and  was  doubtless  cased  with  brick,  or 
stone,  and  crowned  with  buildings."  In  common  with  the 
Peruvians  and  Mexicans,  and  other  nations  in  New  Spain  and 
South  America,  the  Natchez,  and  other  tribes  in  the  United 
States,  also  worshipped  the  Sun ;  and  from  the  contents  of  our 
mounds,  from  the  form  and  position  of  some,  unquestionably 
devoted  to  religious  purposes,  from  the  coincidence  between 
them  and  the  temples  of  Peru  and  Mexico,  in  ranging  accu 
rately  with  the  cardinal  points;  and  from  the  care  with  which 
an  eastern  view  and  access  were  preserved,  it  may  be  concluded, 
that  the  worship  of  that  body  was  a  prominent  feature  in  the 
religion  of  their  authors.  This  opinion  is  confirmed,  moreover, 
by  the  medals  of  the  Sun  and  Moon,  which  have  been  disin 
terred  from  the  mounds.*  The  Mexicans  and  Peruvians  were 
skilled  in  astronomy ;  among  all  ancient  and  primitive  nations, 

*  Arch.  Am.,  vol.  i.  p.  243. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  167 

the  worship  of  the  heavenly  bodies  was  connected  with  a  know 
ledge  of  that  science ;  and  the  benefit  of  this  inference  may  be 
justly  claimed  for  the  Mound-builders.  Among  those  tribes  in 
the  United  States,  which  appear  to  have  preserved  some  relics 
of  this  ancient  faith,  we  might  anticipate  the  existence  of  some 
traditional  proof  of  the  name  and  uses  of  the  great  mounds. 
Accordingly  the  tradition  of  the  Choctaws,  in  relation  to  the 
mound  on  the  Black  river,  maintained  that  "  in  its  midst  is  a 
great  cave,  which  is  the  c  House  of  the  Great  Spirit;'  "  and 
Adair  expressly  assures  us,  that  the  same  tribe  called  these  old 
mounds  « Nanne-Yah,"— "  The  Hills  or  Mounts  of  God,"  a 
name  almost  identical  with  that  of  the  Mexican  pyramids.* 

It  may  be  observed  also,  that  both  the  Mounds  and  the 
Teocalli  are  frequently  approached  by  converging  roads  or 
causeways,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  favor  the  idea,  that  at  cer 
tain  great  festivals  they  were  visited  by  processions  of  large 
bodies  of  people  ;f  that  the  Teocalli,  the  Temples  of  the  Sun, 
and  some  of  the  Mounds,  were  alike  surrounded  by  walls,  or 
trenches;  and  that  the  regular  disposition  of  small  mounds 
around  the  Teocalli  resembles  the  symmetrical  arrangement  of 
the  tumuli  around  many  of  the  Mounds. 

It  must  be  confessed,  that  in  the  progress  of  this  comparison, 
we  find  no  vestiges  in  the  United  States  of  such  edifices  as 
crowned  the  Mexican  and  Peruvian  terraces.  But  upon  the 
great  alluvial  plains  of  the  west,  the  materials  for  such  struc- 


*  Tr.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.,  vol.  Hi.  p.  216.    Adair,  p.  378. 
|  This  is  a  clearly  authenticated  historical  fact,  in  relation  to  the 
Teocalli. 


168  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

tures  are  rare.*  "  All  the  monuments  I  have  seen,"  says  Mr. 
Flint,  "  were  in  regular  forms,  generally  cones,  or  parallelo 
grams.  If  it  be  remarked,  that  the  rude  monuments  of  this 
kind,  those  of  the  Mexican  Indians  even,  are  structures  of 
stone,  and  that  these  are  all  of  earth,  I  can  only  say,  that  these 
memorials  of  former  toil  and  existence  are,  as  far  as  my  obser 
vation  has  extended,  all  in  regions  destitute  of  stones."f  Per 
haps,  however,  upon  this  point,  it  must  be  conceded,  that  the 
people  of  the  North  had  deteriorated  and  fallen  away,  in  some 
degree,  from  the  more  advanced  civilization  of  their  progenitors 
at  the  South ;  and  particularly  had  experienced  that  decline  in 
architectural  art,  which  might  naturally  occur  to  a  migrating 
tribe.  That  the  authors  of  the  Mounds  were  not  wholly  igno 
rant  of  the  art  of  working  in  stone,  appears  from  many  of  the 
ruins.  The  fortresses  surrounded  by  walls  of  stone ;  the  sculp 
tured  remains  discovered  in  the  mounds ;  the  stone  buildings,  in 
Missouri,  constructed  with  great  symmetry  and  with  regular 
apartments;  and  the  ruins  of  an  ancient  tow^n,  in  the  same 
State,  where  the  lines  of  streets  and  squares,  and  the  foundations 
of  stone  dwellings  may  still  be  seen,  all  tend  in  some  measure 
to  support  this  position.J 

The  methods  of  fortification  at  the  North  and  the  South 

*  In  Assyria,  a  country  occupied  at  a  very  early  period,  by  na 
tions  skilled  in  the  arts,  the  absence  of  any  structures  to  be  compared 
with  those  of  Egypt,  has  been  explained;  upon  the  same  reasoning. — 
Landseer's  Sdbcean  Res.,  p.  88. 

t  Flint's  Recollections,  p.  164. 

I  Ulloa  speaks  of  the  resemblance  between  certain  old  buildings 
in  Louisiana  and  the  Peruvian  edifices. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE,  169 

present  some  analogies.  Palisadoes,  earthen  entrenchments, 
and  long  walls  with  bastions  were  common;  and  each  peo 
ple  appears  to  have  exercised  great  prudence  and  judgment,  in 
the  selection  of  commanding  military  positions.*  In  Peru  and 
Mexico  there  are  many  vestiges  of  fortifications,  similar  to 
the  mural  remains  of  the  United  States.  Ulloa  speaks  of  nume 
rous  walls  and  ruins,  in  Peru,  both  in  the  plains,  and  on  the 
sides  and  summits  of  hills,  some  of  them  composed  of  adobes  or 
rough  stone,  without  any  arrangement,  the  more  irregular  of 
which  were  attributed  to  the  Indians,  before  they  were  reduced 
by  the  Incas.f  The  earthen  causeway,  on  the  plains  of  Vari- 
nas,  resembles  many  in  the  United  States,  and  ancient  earthen 
entrenchments  have  been  observed,  even  in  Chile. 

Water  was  a  sacred  element  in  Mexico ;  the  lakes  of  Titi- 
caca  and  Guativita,  in  South  America,  were  objects  of  venera 
tion,  and  one  of  them  was  certainly  visited  for  the  purpose  of 
religious  ablution  ;J  and  from  the  position  of  many  of  the  most 
remarkable  mounds  in  the  United  States,  upon  the  immediate 
margins  of  streams,  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  same  element 
was  worshipped  there. 

In  South  America,  the  dead  were  sometimes  buried  in  ordi 
nary  graves,  in  a  sitting  posture, — at  others,  interred  in  the 
huacas,  some  of  which  were  hollow, — again,  they  were  depo 
sited  in  caves,  or  burned,  or  embalmed.  In  Mexico  all  these 
methods  prevailed  ;  the  most  usual  course  was  interment  in 

*  Clavig.,  vol.  ii.  p.  389. 

f  Ulloa,  vol.  i.  p.  503.     Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  113. 

I  The  Peruvians  were  accustomed  to  bathe  in  rivers,  by  which 
means  they  supposed  they  were  cleansed  of  their  sins. —  Vega,  vol.  i. 
p.  16. 

22 


170  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

common  graves,  and  in  a  sitting  posture ;  the  bodies  of  chiefs, 
kings  and  illustrious  persons  were  either  embalmed,  or  burnt, 
the  ashes  and  bones  being  often  deposited  in  the  mounds  and 
Teocalli,  many  of  which  were  hollow :  caves  were  also  some 
times  employed  as  cemeteries.*  In  our  own  country  are  ancient 
graves,  with  bodies  buried  in  a  sitting  posture ;  mounds  erected 
over  the  ashes  of  the  dead,  or  with  chambers  containing  skele 
tons  ;  and  caves  in  which  numerous  bodies  have  been  discovered, 
wrapped  in  cloths,  interred  in  the  same  peculiar  flexed  position, 
and  betraying  strong  indications  of  the  custom  of  embalming. 
The  practice  of  burying  with  the  deceased  articles  emblematic 
of  his  character  or  intended  for  his  use  in  another  life,  and  also  a 
portion  of  his  riches,  was  common  to  all  these  nations,  as  has 
been  demonstrated  by  the  contents  of  their  sepulchres. 

The  masks  dug  from  the  mounds,  have  a  parallel  in  the 
masks  represented  upon  the  Mexican  monuments,  and  employed 
in  their  religious  ceremonies,  and  also  in  the  masks  used  by  the 
Muyscas,  in  South  America.  Articles  composed  of  copper  have 
been  found  in  the  mounds ;  and  the  Mexicans  and  Peruvians 
possessed  the  knowledge  of  the  art  of  hardening  that  metal,  by 
an  alloy  of  tin,  in  which  manner,  probably,  the  tools  employed 
in  the  execution  of  their  sculptures  were  fabricated.  -  A  cop 
per  cross  has  been  discovered,  lying  upon  the  breast  of  a  skel 
eton,  in  one  of  our  mounds ;  a  cross  decorated  the  pinnacle  of  the 


*  In  some  caves,  near  Durango,  in  Mexico,  it  is  said,  a  vast  num 
ber  of  mummies  has  been  discovered.  They  were  buried  in  a  sitting 
posture,  and  wrapped  in  bands  of  cloth.  With  them  were  found  de 
posited  a  great  variety  of  ornaments,  beads,  knives  of  flint,  finely 
worked  cloths  and  marine  shells. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  171 

Temple  of  the  Sun,  at  Cuzco,  and  the  same  object  was  worship 
ped  in  Yucatan,  and  the  adjacent  countries. 

Marine  shells  have  been  exhumed  from  the  mounds,  were 
sacred  in  Mexico,  and  have  been  discovered  in  the  huacas. 
Cloths  of  a  manufacture  similar  to  those  fabricated  at  the  south, 
were  wrapped  around  the  mummies  of  the  Kentucky  caves : 
articles  of  gold  and  silver,  and  beads  and  necklaces  appear  in 
the  mounds ;  and  the  use  of  the  precious  metals,  and  of  beads 
and  necklaces  was  common  to  the  southern  nations.  The  Pec- 
cari,  the  bones  of  which  have  been  found  in  one  of  the  Ken 
tucky  caves,  is  the  Mexican  hog,  an  animal  not  indigenous  in 
the  north.  Some  of  the  northern  nations  venerated  the  owl ; 
the  Evil  Spirit,  or  malign  God  of  the  Mexicans  was  called 
"  Tlacatecolotl,"  or  rational  owl ;  and  the  sculptured  owl  dis 
covered  in  one  of  the  Ohio  tumuli,  appears  to  have  been  sus 
pended  from  the  roof  of  some  building,  like  many  of  the  Mexi 
can  sacred  sculptures.  The  Cyclopean  arch  of  inverted  steps, 
was  probably  used  in  Peru,  is  perceived  in  the  Mexican  and 
Toltec  edifices,  and  in  the  stone  buildings  in  Missouri.  Covered 
ways,  leading  from  the  ancient  towns  and  cities  to  adjacent 
streams,  are  observable  in  Mexico  and  the  United  States ;  the 
Mexicans  and  the  Mound -builders  wore  buskins,  conical  caps,, 
and  head-dresses  somewhat  similar ;  and  in  fine,  all  three  of 
these  groups  of  nations  employed  mirrors  in  their  religious  cer 
emonies,  constructed  brick  and  earthenware,  wrought  in  some 
of  the  metals  and  in  stone,  built  roads,  and  conduits  for  water, 
and  attained  considerable  perfection  in  agriculture.  It  thus 
appears,  from  this  brief  comparison,  that  America  presents 
three  points  of  ancient  civilization,  between  which,  so  far  as. 
may  be  gathered  from  monuments  and  relics,  some  striking 
analogies  are  developed. 


172  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 


CHAPTER   II. 

ANCIENT   CIVILIZATION ABORIGINAL   MIGRATIONS. 

I.  Decline  of  ancient  civilization.  If  the  examination 
of  the  architectural  monuments,  and  other  remains  of  these 
three  families  of  civilized  nations,  appears  in  a  measure, 
to  identify  their  origin, — or  at  least  to  justify  the  infer 
ence,  that  they  were  constructed  by  members  of  the  same 
primitive  branch  of  the  human  race,  separated  after  their 
arrival  on  this  continent;  whither  are  we  to  look  for  the 
origin  of  the  other,  and  less  civilized  class  of  American  abori 
gines  ?  Whence  came  the  tribes  of  barbarous  Indians  ?  It  may, 
possibly,  be  considered  somewhat  extraordinary,  and  unphilo- 
sophical,  to  search  for  any  traces  of  their  derivation  from  an 
ancient  and  civilized  race,  among  the  arts,  customs,  and  tradi 
tions  of  rude  and  ignorant  savages.  But  although  many  of  the 
Indian  tribes,  as  well  at  the  period  of  the  discovery  as  at  pre 
sent,  might  be  estimated  as  rude,  and  some  of  them  nearly  at 
the  lowest  grade  of  humanity,  there  exists  reason  for  asserting 
of  them,  in  common  with  other  families  of  men,  a  descent  from 
a  more  enlightened  ancestry.  It  is  indeed  a  grave  question 
whether  any  portions  of  our  race,  however  abased,  have  not 
retrograded  from  a  more  advanced  stage  of  knowledge  and  in 
telligence.  Many  refined  theorists  upon  the  rights,  laws,  and 
institutions  of  mankind,  have  been  wont  to  picture  an  original 
condition  of  social  infancy,  whence  in  slow  gradation  all  the 
arts  and  sciences  have  emerged.  Unquestionably,  vast  regions 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  173 

of  the  earth  are  now  occupied  by  tribes  in  this  state  of  barbar 
ism,  but  is  it  certain  that  such  was  their  original  condition ;  or 
cannot  we,  rather,  by  some  feeble  glimmerings  of  light  amid 
their  dark  and  unseemly  institutions,  perceive  the  wreck  and 
fragments  of  a  higher  degree  of  knowledge,  the  remains  of  a 
more  beautiful  and  lofty  order  of  things  ? 

Historically,  no  such  period  of  common  and  universal  de 
gradation  has  ever  existed,  if  we  place  any  reliance  upon  an 
cient  authorities,  or  upon  that  most  venerable  of  all  records, 
the  Bible.  We  find  no  foundation  for  such  an  opinion,  amid 
the  relics  which  have  been  transmitted  to  us,  both  from  sacred 
and  profane  sources,  of  the  human  condition  before  the  deluge. 
Man,  as  we  are  told  in  the  Genesis,  was  formed  in  the  express 
image  of  his  Maker, — and  what  more  vigorous-  and  comprehen 
sive  language  could  have  been  chosen,  to  indicate  that  his  moral 
and  intellectual  faculties  were  of  the  highest  and  noblest  order 
and  capacity  ?  The  primitive  members  of  the  human  family, 
also,  were  probably  not  enervated  in  their  mental  and  physical 
power,  to  such  an  extent  as  in  subsequent  ages,  by  the  effect 
upon  the  human  constitution  of  great  moral  turpitude  and  sen 
sual  excess,  which  appear  to  have  the  power  of  impairing  the 
original  perfection  of  our  nature,  by  a  gradual  and  hereditary 
increment.  It  has  been  suggested,  likewise,  that  the  duration 
of  antediluvian  life  was  favorable  to  more  thorough,  complete, 
and  rapid  attainments  in  knowledge,  from  the  opportunity  af 
forded  for  prolonged  individual  observation,  experience  and 
reflection.*  The  learning  of  a  short  life  just  developed  into  im- 


*  The  remark  of  Josephus  on  this  point,  is,  at  the  least,  curious. 
"  Wherefore,"  he  says,  "  on  account  of  their  virtue,  as  well  as  for  the 
perfection  of  the  arts  of  astronomy  and  geometry,  which  they  invent- 


174  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

portant  principles  and  results,  was  not  suddenly  cut  short  and 
buried  in  the  grave,  to  attain  an  imperfect  resurrection  with  the 
youth  of  a  new  generation,  after  toil  and  study ;  but  ages  rolled 
on,  during  the  sure  and  steady  course  of  uninterrupted  indi 
vidual  observation,  and  in  the  life  of  a  single  person  sciences 
might  spring  from  the  germ,  into  full  and  ample  expansion.  In 
any  event  it  is  certain,  that  the  nearer  we  approach  the  crea 
tion,  the  more  are  evidences  exhibited  of  great  spiritual  and 
intellectual  attainments, — of  revelations  from  heaven, — commu 
nions  with  the  Creator, — an  understanding  of  great  moral  truths, 
and  an  extensive  knowledge  in  physical  science.  By  the  dim 
and  misty  light,  with  which  we  see  darkly  this  distant  period, 
enough  is  still  perceptible,  to  infer  that  the  human  mind,  instead 
of  being  debased,  held  an  exalted  condition,  from  which  it 
subsequently  fell.  The  origin  of  the  art  of  writing  lies  beyond 
the  reach  of  authentic  profane  history,  and  language  appears  to 
have  been  thus  represented,  before  the  picture-writing  and  hie 
roglyphic  systems  were  in  use.  Yet  there  are  several  traditions, 
which  ascribe  to  it  an  origin  before  the  flood.  Eustathius  says 
that  the  Pelasgians  were  called  divine,  because  they  alone,  of 
all  the  Greeks,  possessed  the  use  of  letters  after  the  deluge.* 
The  accuracy  of  the  genealogies  of  the  Genesis  favors  the  same 
idea ;  the  art  of  writing  is  mentioned  in  the  book  of  Job,f  one 
of  the  most  ancient  of  works,  and  at  least  it  may  be  permitted 


ed,  God  permitted  them  (the  Patriarchs)  a  longer  life,  inasmuch  as 
they  would  have  been  incapable  of  predicting  any  thing  with  cer 
tainty,  unless  they  lived  six  hundred  years,  for  such  is  the  period  of 
the  completion  of  the  great  year." — Josephus.  Antiq.,  lib.  i.  c.  3. 
*  Com.  Iliad,  p.  841.  f  Job  13 :  26  ;  19:  23,  31. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  175 

to  say,  that  "  it  might  be  improper  to  assert  that  letters  were 
unknown  before  the  deluge."* 

But  let  us  examine  in  other  respects.  Of  Adam's  two  sons, 
one  was  a  tiller  of  the  earth,  and  the  other  a  shepherd ; — as  we 
proceed  from  the  creation  towards  the  era  of  the  flood,  we  learn 
that  social  institutions  existed,  that  the  useful  arts  were  prac 
tised,  and  that  music  and  astronomy  were  cultivated.  There 
were  artificers  in  brass  and  iron, — the  ark  was  constructed, — 
the  year  was  divided  into  months,  and  there  are  good  reasons 
for  supposing,  was  calculated  at  its  real  duration.  Sir  William 

Drumraond  has  endeavored  to  show  that  the  zodiac  was  actu- 

/ 

ally  divided  ;f  Noah  was  acquainted  with  the  division  of  ani 
mals  into  clean  and  unclean,  and  consequently,  to  a  certain 
extent,  with  natural  history. J  The  author  just  cited  proves 
that  the  Babylonians  considered  their  country  to  have  been 
rich  and  flourishing  before  the  deluge  ;§  and  Job  attributes  his 
knowledge  to  the  former  age.||  Immediately  after  that  event, 
we  find  additional  tokens  of  civilization;  The  division  of  the 
heavens  into  constellations  is  clearly  pointed  out  in  the  book  of 
Job,  and  probably  the  representation  of  these  by  the  figures  of 
animals.  Shortly  after  the  deluge,  we  read  of  "  bows  of  steel 
and  molten  mirrors ;"  as  appears  from  the  account  of  Babel, 


*  Josephus,  1,  2.  Amm.  Marcell.  lib.  22.  Astle's  Origin  and 
Progress  of  Writing,  p.  46.  Wall  on  Egn.  Hieroglyphics.  Davies' 
Celtic  Researches,  pp.  34,  40. 

t  Origines,  vol.  ii.  p.  121. 

J  Mr.  Davies  has  ably  examined  some  of  these  proofs  of  ante 
diluvian  civilization,  in  his  "  Celtic  Researches." 

§  Origines,  vol.  i.  p.  55.  ||  Ch.  8,  15. 


176  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

mankind  were  associated  into  large  communities,  and  in  cities  ;* 
and  religion,  the  arts,  and  sciences  were  cultivated,  according  to 
the  most  ancient  monuments  and  records  of  the  oldest  nations. 
The  Egyptians  will  sufficiently  illustrate  the  perfection  which 
had  thus  been  attained,  so  recently  after  the  flood.  Eighteen 
hundred  years  before  our  era,  they  were  acquainted  with  the 
manufacture  of  linen,  constructed  cabinet-ware  with  great  taste 
and  elegance,  were  skilled  in  the  working  and  smelting  of 
gold,  silver,  copper,  lead,  brass  and  iron,  and  in  other  metal- 
lurgic  arts,  and  of  necessity  possessed  an  acquaintance  with  the 
phenomena  and  principles  of  chemistry.  They  embalmed  the 
bodies  of  the  dead,  and  manufactured  various  liquors.  They 
formed  artificial  gems  of  exquisite  beauty,f  and  their  pig 
ments  were  of  great  lustre  and  permanence.J  "  They  were  not 
only  acquainted  with  glass,  but  excelled  in  staining  it  of  divers 
hues,  and  their  ingenuity  had  pointed  out  to  them  the  mode  of 
carrying  devices  of  various  colors  directly  through  the  fused 
substance."  Their  work  in  pottery  and  porcelain  was  brought 
to  a  high  degree  of  perfection,  and  their  vases  display  forms  of 
the  most  graceful  elegance.  In  mensuration,  geometry  and 
astronomy  they  were  well  versed,  and  their  architectural  pro 
ductions  still  excite  the  astonishment  of  the  world.  In  music 
"  they  were  acquainted  with  the  triple  symphony — the  harmony 
of  instruments — of  voices— and  of  voices  and  instruments."  In 
the  days  of  Joseph  their  commerce  extended  to  distant  nations, 
and  their  civil  and  religious  institutions  were  firmly  established. 
The  existence  of  castes  alone,  is  an  important  evidence  of  early 

*  In  the  days  of  Moses,  the  Canaanites  dwelt  in  great  walled 
cities,  "  fenced  up  to  heaven."     Deut.  9  :  1. 

f  Seneca,  epist.  xc.        J  Pliny  Nat.  Hist.  1.  26,  27. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  177 

civilization,  as  it  is  predicated  upon  a  settled  state  of  public 
polity,  and*  a  uniform  system  of  labor.*  That  which  is  ob 
served  of  the  Egyptians  in  these  early  ages,  is  applicable  in  a 
great  measure  to  the  Chaldeans,  Etrurians,  Hindoos,  Chinese, 
Mexicans  and  Peruvians,  and  other  primitive  nations,  whose 
traditions  generally  assign  the  arts  to  an  antediluvian,  or  to  an 
heroic  or  fabulous  origin,  or  agree  that  they  were  existing  at  a 
period  of  unexplored  antiquity.  With  these  evidences  of  very 
early  civilization  among  the  most  ancient  nations,  are  we  justi 
fied  in  regarding  the  rude  and  ignorant  tribes  of  the  earth,  as 
the  inheritors  of  an  original  barbarism,  common  to  all  mankind 
before  the  separation  ?  The  Hindoo  traditions  declare  barbari 
ans  to  be  outcasts,  who  have  been  driven  from  society,  or  who 
have  wandered  away  from  their  parent  stock,  and  subsequently 
become  degraded;  and  surely  if  the  civilization,  existing  so 
shortly  after  the  deluge,  was  general  before  the  dispersion,  such 
is  the  only  rational  conclusion. 

This  idea  is  supported  also  by  a  sense  of  justice,  which  on 
the  contrary  supposition,  is  shocked  at  an  apparent  unequal 
distribution,  among  different  people,  of  those  faculties  efficient 
towards  advancement.  On  the  other  hand,  the  opposing  opin 
ion  is  based  on  an  assumption,  that  mankind  in  a  state  of 
moral  darkness  are  capable  of  originating  and  perfecting  their 
own  civilization, — a  doctrine  unsupported  by  a  single  historical 
fact,  and  contrary  to  the  course  of  events,  in  all  antiquity.  The 
assertion  that  mankind  "always  advance  and  never  recede, 
is  equally  untrue  in  philosophy  and  experience."  At  this 
epoch,  as  we  are  too  prone,  on  the  one  hand,  to  convert  conclu 
sions  founded  upon  the  course  of  the  empires  of  antiquity,  into 

*  Vide  Wilkinson,  passim. 
23 


178  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

predictions  applicable  to  modern  times,  and  to  teach  the  ne 
cessary  and  natural,  rise  and  decadence  of  nations,  so  on  the 
other  hand,  from  the  modern  conviction  of  the  sure,  and  steady, 
and  onward  course  of  the  human  mind  for  the  future,  it  is  usual 
to  imagine  that  the  converse  is  true,  and  as  progression  must 
have  had  a  commencement,  to  suppose  a  period  when  barbar 
ism  was  the  common  and  primary  condition  of  our  race.  Both 
speculations  are  perhaps  equally  unsound,  and  certainly  the 
comparison  is  unjust,  for  it  is  based  upon  a  fictitious  analogy 
between  different  and  discrepant  states  of  humanity.  From 
the  Christian  era,  or  rather  from  that  time,  when  the  civiliza 
tion  of  Greece,  and  of  Rome  had  been  finally  buried  in  a  common 
grave, — when  the  light  of  science  and  literature  was  extin 
guished,  and  the  new  and  brighter  light  of  a  pure  religion  be 
gan  to  exert  its  power, — from  that  period  when  the  vitality  of 
the  old  pagan  system  became  extinct,  and  even  the  fresh  infu 
sion  of  northern  barbarism  was  ultimately  subdued  by  the  reno 
vating  influence  of  another  code  of  morals,  the  human  intellect 
has  been  advancing  in  a  steady  and  unfaltering  course  of  im 
provement.  Before  that  epoch,  however,  it  was  far  otherwise, 
and  the  historic  parallel  for  many  ages  runs  in  a  contrary  di 
rection.  We  then  find  knowledge  transmitted  from  nation  to 
nation — its  first  beams  always  coming  from  without,  rather  than 
originating  from  an  internal  impulse.  Nations  then  were  fitly 
emblemized  by  human  life,  and  had  their  epochs  of  youth,  man 
hood,  old  age,  and  death.  Falling  upon  a  new  and  perhaps 
vigorous  soil,  the  germs  of  civilization  were  often  developed 
into  the  most  luxuriant  growth,  but  the  principle  of  life  was 
wanting,  and  decay  inevitably  succeeded.  Thus  was  it  with 
Rome  and  Greece,  the  best  illustrations  of  the  ante-Christian 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  179 

era ;  and  as  we  recede  into  earlier  ages,  the  same  course  of 
degradation  is  perceived,  until  we  reach  those  remote  times 
when  the  primitive  nations  existed,  and  are  carried  back  to  the 
period  shortly  subsequent  to  the  flood,  and  even  to  the  antedi 
luvian  ages.  With  these  views,  on  turning  to  the  uncivilized 
aboriginal  tribes  of  both.  Americas,  we  shall  be  able  to  discern 
much  that  favors  the  idea  of  their  descent  from  more  enlight 
ened  progenitors, — faint  traces  of  an  ancient  civilization  not 
wholly  obliterated  by  the  lapse  of  time.  And  before  entering 
upon  the  investigation,  this  position  may  be  strengthened  by 
the  striking  and  appropriate  language  of  Win.  Von  Humboldt : 
"  Neither  has  the  important  question  yet  been  resolved,"  he  re 
marks,  "  whether  that  savage  state,  which  even  in  America  is 
found  in  various  gradations,  is  to  be  looked  upon  as  the  dawn 
ing  of  a  society  about  to  rise,  or  whether  it  is  not  rather  the 
fading  remains  of  one,  sinking  amidst  storms,  overthrown  and 
shattered  by  overwhelming  catastrophes.  To  me  the  latter  sup 
position  seems  to  be  nearer  the  truth  than  the  former" 

II.  Common  origin  of  the  aborigines.  If  the  idea  just 
advanced,  in  relation  to  the  civilization  of  the  primitive  nations 
in  the  early  ages  of  the  world,  be  correct ;  and  if  we  are  justified 
in  asserting  for  many  barbarous  tribes,  a  descent  from  more 
cultivated  ancestors;  it  becomes  proper  to  examine  whether 
there  are  any  substantial  grounds  of  distinction,  indicating  a 
difference  of  origin,  between  the  two  great  divisions  of  American 
aborigines, — the  barbarous,  and  the  civilized. 

1.  Physical  appearance.  There  are  few  points,  upon  which 
both  travellers  and  naturalists  have  been  more  united  in  opinion, 
than  the  physical  unity  of  the  American  race.  No  portion 
of  the  globe,  of  the  same  extent,  presents  so  striking  a  unifor- 


180  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

mity  in  the  physical  conformation  of  its  inhabitants ;  and,  with 
out  excepting  those  varieties  which  may  have  arisen  from  climate 
and  peculiar  modes  of  life,  all  the  aborigines  of  both  Americas, 
barbarous  or  cultivated,  in  their  features,  color,  and  other  char 
acteristic  indications,  exhibit  the  clearest  evidence  of  belonging 
to  the  same  great  race  of  the  human  family.  No  clearly  estab 
lished  traces  of  ancient  intermixture  with  other  varieties  of 
mankind  can  be  discovered ;  and  this  general  resemblance, 
therefore,  besides  proving  the  common  origin  of  all  the  tribes, 
tends  also  to  establish,  that  up  to  the  era  of  the  discovery,  none 
but  the  Red  race  had  occupied  our  continent. 

2.  Language.  It  was  an  old  and  common  error,  to  consider 
the  residents  of  every  Indian  village  as  a  distinct  tribe ;  and 
such  was  the  imperfect  knowledge  of  their  dialects,  that  this 
mistake  was  confirmed  by  the  impression,. that  many  languages, 
now  ascertained  to  be  nearly  related,  were  wholly  dissimilar. 
It  is  not  intended  to  deny  the  great  diversity,  which  really  ex 
ists  in  this  respect,  nor  to  trace  fanciful  analogies  between  the 
languages  of  the  various  aboriginal  nations.  But  the  close  and 
searching  investigations,  which  have  been  made  into  the  char 
acter  of  these  languages,  have  demonstrated  the  important  fact, 
that  through  them  all,  there  may  be  traced  a  general  unity  of 
structure,  and  a  close  and  positive  similarity  in  grammatical 
forms.  It  was  remarked,  some  years  since,  that  in  their  con 
struction,  in  the  attributes,  the  verbs  and  numerals,  a  great 
analogy  existed.  Mr.  Duponceau,  in  1819,  observe^  that  a 
striking  resemblance  was  perceptible  between  the  forms  of  the 
languages  of  South  and  North  America;  that  this  analogy  was 
common  to  all  the  languages ;  and  that  to  this  general  principle 
of  construction  he  had  not  been  able  "  to  fnd  one  single,  well- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  J81 

ascertained  exception."  Mr.  Gallatin,  who  has  bestowed  great 
learning  and  research  upon  this  subject,  confirms  these  opinions, 
and  considers  it  proved,  that  all  the  languages,  not  only  of  our 
own  Indians,  but  of  the  natives  from  the  Arctic  Ocean  to  Cape 
Horn,  have,  as  far  as  they  have  been  examined,  a  distinct 
character  common  to  all,  which  seems  to  establish,  "  beyond  a 
doubt,  that  common  origin,  which  could  not  be  discovered  in 
vocabularies  so  entirely  different  from  each  other ;"  and  he  adds 
the  important  observation,  that  "  whilst  the  unity  of  structure 
and  of  grammatical  forms  proves  a  common  origin,  it  may  be 
inferred  from  this,  combined  with  the  great  diversity  and  entire 
difference  in  the  words  of  the  several  languages  of  America, 
that  this  continent  received  its  first  inhabitants  at  a  very  remote 
period,  probably  not  much  posterior  to  that  of  the  dispersion  of 
mankind."* 

3.  Religion.  Broken  and  scattered  as  were  the  natives,  intp 
so  many  distinct  communities,  we  are  astonished  to  find  the  great 
congruity  which  exists  between  the  religious  belief  and  ideas  of 
all  the  tribes,  inclusive  even  of  the  Mexicans  and  Peruvians. 
Through  the  whole  extent  of  both  continents  this  uniformity  is 
of  so  decisive  a  character,  as  to  demonstrate  a  single  primitive 
source.  It  will  be  sufficient  at  present  to  state,  that  with 
almost  all  of  the  aborigines,  there  is  proof  of  the  existence  of  a 
belief  in  a  Supreme  Being ;  of  the  former  worship  of  the  Sun ; 
of  an  extensive  polytheism,  based  apparently,  in  its  origin,  upon 
the  doctrine  of  divine  emanations ;  of  a  belief  in  the  immortality 
of  the  soul  and  its  future  state,  and  in  the  transmigration  of 
spirits :  that,  with  most  of  the  tribes,  there  were  jugglers,  who 

*  Archseologia  Am.,  vol.  ii.  pp.  6,  164.  Vide  also  Flint's  Recol 
lections,  p.  137  ;  Molina,  vol.  ii.  p,  285,  etc. 


182  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

acted  in  the  triple  capacity  of  physicians,  prophets,  and  sorce 
rers,  or  priests ;  and  that  sacred  ablutions,  fasts,  and  expiatory 
self-punishments  and  sacrifices,  were  of  nearly  equal  prevalence 
in  both  continents.  These  religious  ideas  are  of  a  primitive 
type,  and  are  therefore  worthy  of  great  consideration  ;  for,  while 
they  prove  the  original  unity  of  the  native  race,  they  indicate 
also  the  very  early  period  of  its  separation  and  dispersion, — a 
conclusion  just  drawn  from  a  comparison  of  the  languages. 

4.  Hieroglyphic  Painting.  The  art  of  communicating 
ideas,  and  of  preserving  the  memory  of  events,  by  artificial 
signs,  was  practised  by  the  aborigines  in  two  methods :  the 
first  consisted  in  the  use  of  pictorial  delineations,  accompanied 
with  symbols  of  a  hieroglyphical  character ;  and  the  second,  in 
the  employment  of  knotted  cords,  and  analogous  means.  The 
curious  and  complicated  system  of  picture-writing  possessed  by 
the  Mexicans  was  not  only  known  to  many  nations  in  their 
vicinity,  but  also  to  at  least  one  of  the  South  American  tribes, 
while  it  is  conceived  that  traces  of  its  ancient  use  may  be  ob 
served  among  others.  "  The  people  of  Quito,"  remarks  Mrs. 
Graham,  "pride  themselves  in  retaining  that  excellence  in 
painting,  which  distinguished  their  predecessors  of  the  time  of 
Pizarro."*  And  Frezier  informs  us  that  in  his  day  Cuzco  was 
famous  for  the  vast  number  of  pictures  made  there  by  the  In 
dians,  and  that  he  saw  in  the  same  place,  portraits  of  the  twelve 
Incas,  one  of  which  he  copied,  f  Herrera  speaks  of  the  paint 
ings  of  animals,  which  adorned  the  great  temple  of  Pachaca- 
mac,  and  Garcia  has  the  following  singular  passage :  "  At  the 
beginning  of  the  conquest,  the  Indians  of  Peru  made  their  con 
fessions  by  paintings  and  characters,  which  indicated  the  ten 

*  Travels  in  Chile,  p.  178.          f  Frezier's  Voyage,  pp.  175, 271. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  183 

commandments,  and  the  sins  committed  against  them."*  The 
latter  authority  Humboldt  seems  to  consider  as  sufficient  to  sup 
port  the  conclusion,  that  the  Peruvians  were  not  wholly  unac 
quainted  with  the  method  of  picture-writing,  an  opinion  which 
the  other  facts  just  cited  render  more  probable.  The  same  au 
thor  has  succeeded  in  establishing  one  well  authenticated  in 
stance  of  the  use  of  hieroglyphical  paintings  in  South  America. 
Among  the  Panoes,  on  the  banks  of  the  Ucayale,  Narcissus 
Gilbar  found  books  or  bundles  of  paintings.  They  contained 
figures  of  men  arid  animals,  and  hieroglyphic  characters,  deli 
neated  in  brilliant  colors.  The  tradition  was,  that  they  were 
transmitted  to  them  by  their  fathers,  and  represented  their  an 
cient  travels  and  wars,  and  "  hidden  things  which  no  stranger 
ought  to  know."f  The  sculptured  hieroglyphic  figures,  in  the 
caves  near  the  mouth  of  the  Arauca,  and  in  other  places,  would 
suggest  the  wider  extension  of  this  art,  in  ancient  times ;  and 
it  is  somewhat  curious  that  the  Peruvian  word,  quellccani,  to 
write,  signifies  to  paint,!  and  the  Chileno  word  Chilean  has  the 
same  double  signification^  In  North  America  the  ancient  fig 
ures  and  inscriptions,  and  particularly  those  observed  by  Bishop 
Madison  in  Virginia,  appear  to  belong  to  the  same  class  of  sym 
bolic  representations.  Charlevoix  speaks  of  certain  cloths  used 
in  the  funeral  ceremonies  of  the  Natchez,  upon  which  "  they 
had  painted  various  figures,"  probably  emblematic.||  As  appears 
from  Miguel  Venegas,  some  insular  tribes  near  the  coast  of  Cal 
ifornia  had  in  their  sacred  places,  paintings  which  seem  to  have 

*  Origen  de  los  Indies,  p.  91,  in  Humb. 

t  Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  174  ;  vol.  ii.  p.  221.     Acosta,  1.  5,  c.  8,  in  ibid. 
J  Vocabulario  Q,quichua  o  del  Inca,  Lima,  1608.     p.  199. 
§  Molina,  vol.  ii.  p.  25.  ||  Voyage,  vol.  ii.  p.  197. 


184  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

been  symbolical  ;*  and  on  the  north-west  coast  of  America  the 
natives  display  a  decided  taste  for  hieroglyphical  delineations.! 
Indeed  many  of  the  savage  tribes,  but  more  especially  those 
of  North  America,  employ  conventional  signs  and  paintings  as 
a  substitute  for  letters,  and  not  more  rudely  executed  than  might 
be  anticipated  of  a  people,  long  degraded  from  a  state  of  higher 
cultivation.  Dobrizhoffer  relates  that  the  Abipones,  an  eques 
trian  people  of  Paraguay,  had  certain  signs  and  marks  taught 
them  by  their  ancestors,  in  the  nature  of  a  hieroglyphic  lan 
guage,  which  they  cut  upon  trees ;  and  that  the  Guaranies  are 
distinguished  for  their  natural  talent  for  painting.J  The  Ari- 
karas  represent  their  battles,  by  paintings  upon  buffalo  skins, 
and  they  denote  their  journeys  by  foot-tracks,  a  method  pre 
cisely  similar  to  the  one  used  by  the  Mexicans  for  that  purpose.§ 
It  is  an  ordinary  Indian  custom  when  they  are  engaged  in  hunt 
ing  or  hostile  expeditions,  to  leave  at  certain  points,  marks  and 
pictures  upon  trees,  so  as  to  convey  an  idea  of  their  number,  the 
direction  they  have  taken,  the  result  of  the  adventure,  or  any 
incidents  that  may  have  occurred.] |  Mr.  Pike  describes  one  of 
these  tokens,  at  a  deserted  encampment  of  the  Chippeways, 
which  imparted  the  information,  that  they  had  marched  a 
party  of  fifty  warriors,  against  the  Sioux,  and  had  killed  four 
men  and  four  women,  which  was  represented  by  images  carved 
out  of  pine  or  cedar.H  Indeed  the  Indians  of  this  stock,  the 
Algonquin,  appear  to  have  possessed  a  method  of  delineation  by 

*  Hist.  Calif,  vol.  ii.  p.  276. 

f  Voyage  de  Marchand,  in  Pol.  Ess.,  vol.  i.  p.  100. 

J  An  account  of  the  Abipones,  vol.  ii.  pp.  62,  63,  271. 

§  Brackenridge's  Journal,  p.  193.  ||  Ibid.  p.  156. 

Tf  Pike's  Expedition,  p.  56. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  185 

which  they  aided  the  memory  in  retaining  and  recalling  ideas, 
with  considerable  accuracy.*  They  have  traditionary  songs 
which  are  used  at  their  feasts,  for  medicine  hunting,  and  upon 
other  occasions,  some  of  which  contain  internal  evidence  of 
their  own  antiquity.  These  are  preserved,  and,  as  it  were,  re 
corded,  by  rude  pictures  carved  on  a  flat  piece  of  wood,  "  which 
serve  to  suggest  to  the  minds  of  those  who  have  learned  the 
songs,  the  ideas  and  their  order  of  succession ;  the  words  are 
not  variable,  but  a  man  must  be  taught  them ;  otherwise, 
though  from  an  inspection  of  the  figure  he  might  comprehend 
the  idea,  he  would  not  know  what  to  sing."f  These  pictures, 
as  appears  from  the  illustrations  given  of  them,  seem  to  belong 
to  the  same  species  of  pictorial  writing  as  the  Mexican,  though 
less  complex  and  finished :  we  perceive  the  traces  of  a  system 
of  arbitrary  symbols  in  relation  to  numbers,  and  to  one  of  the 
elements,  while  another  of  the  elements,  water,  is  represented 
by  the  same  natural  figure  as  was  used  in  Mexico, — undulating 
lines.  It  was  probably  from  a  study  of  these  rude  picture  writ 
ings,  that  Mr.  Schoolcraft  formed  so  high  an  idea  of  the  abo 
riginal  method  of  delineation. 

The  Algic  nations,  he  says,  found  a  substitute  for  letters, 
in  a  system  of  hieroglyphics  of  a  general  character,  but  quite 
exact  in  their  mode  of  application  and  absolutely  fixed  in  their 
elements ;  they  employed  the  same  hieroglyphic  signs  to  express 
names  and  events,  which  bore  quite  a  resemblance  to  the  Egyp 
tian,  expressed  a  series  of  whole  images  without  adjuncts,  and 
stood  as  general  memoranda  to  help  the  recollection.!  Ac-* 

*  James,  in  Tanner's  Narrative,  p.  338.  f  Ibid.  p.  341, 

+  Algic  Researches,  vol.  i.  pp.  19,  24. 

24 


186  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

cording  to  Lafitau,  the  figures,  which  the  Indians  engrave  on 
their  faces  and  bodies,  serve  as  hieroglyphic  writings  and  me 
moirs.*  When  a  savage  has  returned  from  \var  he  will  often 
paint  his  story  upon  bark  or  a  blazed  tree.  He  has  character 
istic  marks  which  distinguish  himself  personally, — he  traces  his 
own  figure,  and  adds  other  characters  to  explain  his  achieve 
ments  and  actions.  His  own  hieroglyphic  symbol,  like  a  her 
aldic  device,  is  painted  on  his  body, — above  his  head  he  paints 
the  thing  which  expresses  his  name, — at  the  side  of  the  figure,  he 
places  the  animals  which  are  the  symbols  of  his  tribe  and  nation 
— the  national  symbol  above  that  of  his  tribe ; — and  then  suc 
ceed  various  signs,  showing  the  number  of  his  war  party, — of 
the  prisoners,  and  of  those  slain.  The  warriors  are  represented 
with  their  arms,  or  simply  by  lines — the  prisoners  by  a  stick  or 
namented  with  feathers,  and  other  marks  of  slavery,  and  the 
dead  by  headless  human  figures.  The  same  author  remarks 
that  he  has  seen  many  paintings  of  this  description,  and  that  in 
general  all  the  Indians  have  a  great  number  of  symbols,  and 
hieroglyphic  figures  of  all  kinds,  which  are  to  be  regarded  as  a 
particular  language,  sufficiently  ample,  and  supplied  with  many 
things  in  which  writing  is  deficient.  Charlevoix  confirms  this 
statement.  It  is  the  custom  among  some  nations,  he  observes, 
for  the  chief  of  the  victorious  party,  to  leave  on  the  field  of  bat 
tle  his  war-club,  on  which  he  has  taken  care  to  trace  the  mark 
of  his  nation,  that  of  his  family  and  his  portrait ;  "  that  is  to 
say,  an  oval,  with  all  the  figures  he  had  on  his  face :"  others 
•  paint  these  marks  upon  bark  or  on  a  tree,  and  "  they  add  some 
hieroglyphic  characters,  by  means  of  which  those  who  pass  by, 

*  Lafitau,  Moeurs  des  Savages  Amerujains,  p.  44,  etc. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  187 

may  know  even  the  minutest  circumstances."*  The  heraldic 
signs  for  the  personal  name,  and  for  the  totem  or  family  name 
alluded  to  by  these  authors,  was  somewhat  in  the  nature  of  a 
phonetic  hieroglyphic  -  the  name  being  pronounced  upon  seeing 
the  sign  :  they  also  executed  treaties  by  tracing  these  figures  as 
their  signatures.  These  symbols  were  analogous  to  the  Mex 
ican  method  of  representing  the  names  of  persons  and  of  cities ; 
when  they  represented  a  person,  they  painted  a  man  or  a  hu 
man  head,  and  over  it,  a  figure  of  some  real  object  expressing 
the  meaning  of  his  name. 

The  use  of  knotted  cords,  from  which  the  method  of  com 
municating  ideas,  by  means  of  belts  or  strings  of  wampum,  was 
probably  derived,  was  common  to  many  tribes.  They  were 
employed  by  the  Tlascalans,f  a  nation  adjacent  to  the  Mexicans ; 
and  traces  of  them  may  be  perceived  in  the  Mexican  symbols 
of  enumeration.  According  to  ancient  traditions  collected  in 
Quito,  the  quippos  were  known  to  the  Puruays  long  before  they 
were  reduced  by  the  Incas.  The  prou,  or  quippos  were  used 
in  Chile ;  "  the  subject  treated  of,"  says  Molina,  "  was  in 
dicated  by  the  color,  and  the  knots  designated  the  number  or 
quantity."!  They  were  most  extensively  employed,  however,  in 

*  Charlevoix,  Voyage,  vol.  i.  p.  214;  vol.  ii.  p.  17.  Vide  Loskiel 
Hist.  Mission  Un.  Brethren,  etc.,  p.  25. 

|  Clavig.,  vol.  i.  p.  411. 

J  Molina,  vol.  ii.  p.  24.  Frezier  adds,  that  they  also  employed 
persons  to  remember  the  history  of  the  country,  and  to  hand  it  down 
by  tradition.  Mr.  Stevenson  furnishes  some  original  evidence  of  the 
use  of  the  quippos  by  the  Araucanians,  in  vol.  i.  p.  50,  and  mentions 
an  instance  of  an  old  cacique,  who  was  still  able  to  translate  them. 
Vol.  ii.  p.  269. 


188  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE   ORIGIN  AND 

Peru,  where  each  province  had  its  knots,  to  assist  the  memory 
in  the  preservation  of  its  annals  and  its  traditions.  Garcillasso 
gives  a  minute  description  of  these  records.  They  were  com 
posed  of  various  things,  he  says,  but  most  commonly  of  threads 
of  different  colors,  suspended  from  a  string,  in  the  manner  of  a 
fringe.  Each  color  had  its  particular  signification, — the  knots 
designated  numbers,  and  by  an  arbitrary  arrangement  of  both, 
th  e  meaning  of  which  was  fixed,  a  complicated  method  of  ex 
pression  and  calculation  was  attained.*  These  records  were 
placed  under  the  direction  of  the  "  Quipucamayus,"  or  masters 
of  accounts,  who  composed  a  numerous  body  of  public  Registers. 
As  the  quippos  were  deficient  in  their  power  of  expression  in  a 
connected  form,  and  suggested  merely  isolated  ideas,  it  became 
the  duty  of  these  officers  to  study  their  meaning  and  to  transmit 
it  by  tradition.  Thus,  were  preserved  lists  of  the  tributes  which 
the  Incas  received,  military  rolls,  the  number  of  births  and 
deaths  and  other  statistical  facts,  laws,  customs,  the  order  of 
ceremonies,  festivals  and  sacrifices,  traditionary  songs,  religious 
fables,  and  all  the  events  of  their  history  :f  it  may  be  added  that 
the  quippos  were  considered  as  sacred. 

In  North  America,  according  to  Lafitau  and  Charlevoix, 
knots  were  also  known ;  but  the  use  of  the  wampum  as  a  spe 
cies  of  record  was  of  more  extensive  prevalence.  The  Dela- 
wares,  upon  one  occasion,  seem  to  have  kept  an  account  of 
time,  by  putting  a  bead  of  wampum  every  year  on  a  belt 

*  Vega,  vol.  i.  pp.  293,  294 ;  vol.  ii.  p.  561. 

|  "The  knots  serve  for  divers  passages  and  arguments  of  history ; 
and  giving  them  only  the  subject,  they  will  run  on  with  a  history  as 
currently  as  a  reader  can  with  his  book.— Bias  Valera,  in  Vega,  vol. 
ii.  p.  561.  Eng.  Trans. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  189 

kept  for  that  purpose,*  and  among  many  tribes,  in  the  delivery 
of  speeches,  and  the  execution  of  treaties,  belts  were  given,  and 
preserved  to  perpetuate  the  remembrance  of  the  transaction.! 
The  Hurons  and  Iroquois  had  "  in  their  public  treasuries  belts 
of  porcelain  in  which  were  wrought  figures,"  by  which  means 
they  recorded  events.  The  beads  of  which  they  consisted, 
were  of  different  colors,  and  were  pierced  and  strung  in  such 
a  manner,  as  to  form  a  variety  of  figures  and  characters,  under 
stood  by  those  to  whose  charge  they  were  committed.  As  in 
Peru  the  colors  had  particular  significations.  The  brown  or 
deep  violet  was  the  most  valuable,  and  intended  something  of 
serious  import,  white  was  the  color  of  peace,  red  the  emblem 
of  war.  Thus  if  it  were  designed  to  give  warning  of  an  ap 
proaching  evil,  or  to  send  an  earnest  remonstrance,  a  black  belt 
was  delivered ;  if  to  declare  war,  a  red  belt  wrought  with  the 
figure  of  a  hatchet  in  white ;  if  to  signify  peace,  a  black  belt, 
with  two  hands  joined  in  white.  It  appears  that  formerly  other 
articles  were  used  for  this  purpose  besides  beads ;  and  like  the 
quippos  of  Peru  the  wampum  was  considered  as  sacred.f 
"  These  strings  and  belts  of  wampum,"  says  Loskiel,  "  are  also 
documents  by  which  the  Indians  remember  the  chief  articles  of 
the  treaties,  made  either  between  themselves  or  the  white  peo 
ple.  They  refer  to  them  as  to  public  records,  carefully  preserv 
ing  them  in  a  chest,  made  for  that  purpose.  At  certain  seasons, 
they  meet  to  study  their  meaning,  and  to  renew  the  ideas,  of 

*  Beatty's  Journal. 

f  Smith's  Hist.  New- York,  vol.  i.  p.  74.  The  wampum  was  also 
used  as  a  medium  of  exchange.  Charlevoix's  Voyage,  vol.  i.  pp. 
179,  180 ;  vol.  ii.  p.  174. 

J  Loskiel,  p.  28. 


190  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

which  they  were  an  emblem  and  confirmation."  "  And  as  it  is 
their  custom  to  admit  even  the  young  boys,  who  are  related  to 
the  chiefs,  to  these  assemblies^  they  may  become  early  acquaint 
ed  with  all  the  affairs  of  the  state,  and  thus  the  contents  of 
their  documents  are  transmitted  to  posterity,  and  cannot  easily 
be  forgotten."* 

5.  Traditions.  There  is  a  great  conformity  in  all  the  my 
thological  traditions  of  the  civilized  nations ;  and  even  in  those 
of  the  savage  tribes,  which  appear  to  be  ancient,  there  are 
general  features  of  resemblance.  Amid  various  details,  they 
most  usually  imply  a  migration  from  some  other  country,  con 
tain  distinct  allusions  to  a  deluge,  and  attribute  the  knowledge 
of  such  arts  as  they  possess,  to  some  fabulous  teacher,  in  remote 
ages.  In  relation  to  the  Indian  origin,  they  appear  to  agree, 
with  a  few  exceptions,  in  establishing  that  the  course  of 
population  has  been  from  the  west  to  the  east,  the  direction 
varying  in  some  measure,  according  to  the  locality  of  particular 
tribes.  With  the  great  race  called  the  Algic,  or  Algonquin- 
Lenape,  there  was  a  tradition  of  the  original  appearance  or 
creation  of  the  earth  from  water,  and  of  a  subsequent  general 
inundation.  According  to  Charlevoix,  the  Iroquois  believed  in 
a  general  deluge,  from  which  no  person  escaped,  after  which, 
to  repeople  the  earth,  beasts  were  changed  into  men.  The 
Pawnees  say  that  eight  men  were  originally  created  by  the 
Great  Spirit,  from  whom  all  mankind  were  descended  ;  and 
another  tribe,  besides  a  deluge,  believed  in  the  existence  of  an 
age  of  fire,  which  destroyed  every  human  being,  except  one 
man  and  one  woman,  who  were  saved  in  a  cavern.  In  South 
America,  the  Remos  on  the  banks  of  the  Ucayali  suppose 

*  Loskiel,  p.  28. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  191 

themselves  to  have  been  created  out  of  the  earth,  by  a  man  of 
miraculous  powers.  In  Brazil,  besides  the  usual  belief  in  a 
general  deluge,  there  was  a  tradition  that  in  ancient  times, 
before  the  age  of  violence,  there  were  two  persons,  one  of 
whom  was  called  Zome,—  in  Paraguay,  Payzume.  Payzome  is 
represented  as  an  elderly  man  with  a  long  beard,  and  who  wore 
white  garments.  He  came  from  the  country  of  the  Guaranies, 
that  is,  the  east,  before  the  days  of  their  grandfathers,  arid 
wherever  he  sojourned,  he  taught  the  natives  to  clothe  them 
selves,  to  live  in  houses,  the  use  of  fire,  and  to  cultivate  the 
mandioc.  Their  forefathers,  as  the  fable  ran,  quarrelled  with 
these  benefactors  and  shot  their  arrows  at  them ;  but  the  arrows 
turned  back,  and  slew  those  by  whom  they  had  been  aimed ; 
and  Payzome  fled  to  the  north,  promising  to  visit  them  again, 
and  leaving  his  miraculous  footsteps  imprinted  upon  the  shore.* 
The  nations  of  the  Tamanac  race  say  that  Amalivaca,  the 
parent  of  the  Tamanacs,  arrived  in  their  country  in  a  bark,  at 
the  time  of  the  great  deluge,  which  is  called  the  age  of  water.f 
Amalivaca,  sailing  in  his  canoe,  made  the  figures  on  the  painted 
rocks  of  Encamarada, — some  blocks  of  granite  forming  a  spe 
cies  of  cavern  are  denominated  his  house, — and  a  large  stone 
of  regular  form,  his  drum  or  instrument  of  music.  He  had  a 
brother,  who  assisted  him  in  giving  the  surface  of  the  earth  its 
present  form.  His  daughters  were  fond  of  travelling,  and  he 
broke  their  legs  to  prevent  them.  After  having  regulated  all 
things  on  that  side  of  the  great  water,  he  embarked  and  re- 

*  Southey's  Hist.  Brazil,  vol.  i.  p.  229. 

t  Humboldt's  Pers.  Nar.,  vol.  v.  pp.  596;  597,  etc. ;  vol.  iv.  pp. 
473,  474. 


192  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

turned  to  the  other  shore.  The  name  of  Amalivaca  is  found 
spread  over  a  region  of  more  than  five  thousand  square  leagues, 
and  he  is  termed  the  "  Father  of  Mankind,"  or  our  "  Great 
Grandfather,"  even  by  the  Caribbees,  who,  however,  style  him 
Amarivaca.  At  this  deluge,  all  the  Tamanacs  were  destroyed 
except  one  man  and  one  woman,  who  saved  themselves  on  a 
mountain  near  the  banks  of  the  Asivera,  and  w?ho,  casting  be 
hind  them,  over  their  heads,  the  fruits  of  the  Mauritia  palm-tree, 
saw  the  seeds  contained  in  them  produce  men  and  women,  who 
repeopled  the  earth.  These  traditions  are  current  among  the 
Tamanacs,  the  Maypures  of  the  Great  Cataracts,  the  Indians  of 
the  Rio  Erevato,  and  all  the  tribes  of  the  Upper  Orinoco. 

In  Chile,  on  a  mountain  called  Theghin,  or  Theg-theghin, 
(which  means,  to  crackle  or  sparkle  like  fire,)  the  aborigines 
say  that  their  early  progenitors  escaped  from  the  deluge.  There 
is  a  word  in  common  use  among  them,  says  Molina,*  meaning 
"  the  great  ancestor,"  or  "  our  great  ancestor,"  or  "  the  re 
nowned,"  which  is  hardly  to  be  distinguished  from  Shem; 
"  Febres  spells  it  Them,  but  as  the  th  is  frequently  pronounced 
it  would  sound  like  Chem." 

The  Muyscas,  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  New  Grenada,  re 
lated  that  in  the  remotest  times,  they  lived  like  barbarians; 
when  from  the  plains  to  the  east  of  the  Cordilleras,  there  came 
an  old  man  with  a  long  flowing  beard,  who  was  known  by  three 
appellations,  one  of  which  was  Bochica.  He  taught  them  the 
arts,  the  worship  of  the  sun,  the  cultivation  of  the  earth,  and  to 
clothe  themselves.  His  wife  Huythaca,  who  was  extremely 
beautiful,  and  less  benevolent  than  her  husband,  swelled  the 

*  Molina,  vol.  ii.  p.  400. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  193 

river  and  caused  the  valley  of  Bogota  to  be  inundated.  All  the 
natives  perished,  save  a  few  who  were  preserved  on  the  moun 
tains.  Huythaca  was  driven  by  Bochica  from  the  earth,  and 
became  the  moon  ;*  and  the  old  man,  after  draining  the  valley, 
by  breaking  the  rocks  which  enclosed  it,  retired  to  the  holy 
valley  of  Iraca,  where  he  lived  austerely  for  two  thousand  years. 

In  ancient  times,  says  Garcillasso,  the  whole  country  (of 
Peru)  was  occupied  by  natives  of  brutal  habits,  who  went  na 
ked,  subsisted  upon  roots  and  herbs,  and  lived  in  caverns.  The 
Sun,  perceiving  their  degraded  condition,  was  touched  with  com 
passion,  and  sent  from  heaven  his  two  children,  Manco  Capac 
and  Mama  Oello,  to  instruct  them  in  the  arts  of  humanity  and 
religion,  to  teach  them  to  cultivate  the  earth,  to  build  houses, 
and  weave  garments.f  In  another  tradition  it  was  said,  that 
after  the  deluge  there  came  from  the  lake  Titicaca,  a  being  or 
god,  whom  they  styled  Viracocha,  who  first  went  to  Tiahuanaco, 
and  thence  to  Cuzco  where  he  commenced  the  work  of  civiliza 
tion. J  The  Inca  Viracocha,  who  was  named  after  this  deity  in 
consequence  of  a  dream  in  which  the  god  appeared  to  him, 
described  him  as  having  a  white  shining  countenance,  a  long 
beard,  and  flowing  garments. 

In  Mexico,  all  improvements  were  ascribed  to  Quetzalcoatl, 
a  white  and  bearded  man,  who,  clothed  in  a  black  robe,  ap 
peared  from  Panuco,  upon  the  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
He  was  high-priest  and  legislator,  and  instructed  the  inhabi 
tants  of  Tula  and  Cholula,  where  he  was  held  in  extreme  ven 
eration.  His  was  the  golden  age  and  era  of  peace ;  he  in- 

*  Hum.  Res.,  vol.  i.  pp.  72,  etc.  f  Vega,  vol.  i.  p.  34. 

|  Acosta,  in  Purchas. 

25 


194  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

vented  the  art  of  cutting  gems,  and  casting  metals,  and  taught 
them  the  ceremonies  of  their  religion,  and  the  regulation  of  the 
seasons  and  calendar.  The  great  spirit  Tezcatlipoca  offered 
him  a  drink  which  made  him  immortal,  and  inspired  him  with 
a  desire  of  visiting  the  distant  country,  Tlapallan ;  he  then 
went  to  the  east,  arid  disappeared  upon  the  coast. 

In  Chiapa,  it  is  said,  there  was  a  tradition  of  one  Votan, 
who  was  present  at  the  building  of  the  great  tower  >  wrhen  man 
kind  received  different  languages ;  and  who  was  then  com 
manded  to  people  and  make  a  division  of  the  lands  of  Anahuac. 
In  one  of  the  Mexican  picture  writings,  there  is  a  delineation  of 
the  Mexican  Noah  .or  Coxcox,  who  with  his  wife  was  saved  in 
a  canoe,  and  finally,  upon  the  subsidence  of  the  flood,  was  landed 
upon  a  mountain  called  Colhuacan.  Their  children  were  bom 
dumb,  and  received'different  languages  from  a  dove  upon  a  lofty 
tree.  The  natives  of  Mechoacan  had  a  tradition,  which,  if  it  be 
correctly  reported,  accords  most  singularly  with  the  narrative 
of  the  Noachic  deluge.  They  say,  that  at  the  time  of  the  great 
deluge,  Tezpi  embarked  with  his  wife  and  children, — taking  with 
them  various  animals,  and  several  seeds  of  fruits, — in  a  calli  or 
house.  When  the  waters  began  to  withdraw,  he  sent  out  a 
bird  called  aura,  which  remained  feeding  upon  carrion.  He 
then  sent  out  other  birds  that  did  not  return,  except  the  hum 
ming-bird,  which  brought  a  small  branch  in  its  mouth.* 

6.  Methods  of  interment.  The  superstitious  reverence  of  the 
Indians  for  the  dead,  has  tended  to  preserve  a  great  uniformity  in 
their  methods  of  interment.  No  better  evidence  of  the  depth  and 

*  Clavig.,  vol.  i.  pp.  87,  106,  244 ;  vol.  ii.  p.  204.     Hum.  Res.,  vol. 
i,  p.  29 ;  vol.  ii.  pp.  64,  65,  66.     Del  Rio,  pp.  31,  54. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  195 

power  of  this  feeling  can  be  exhibited,  than  in  the  custom  which 
was  oftentimes  practised,  of  interring  the  deceased  in  their  very 
dwellings.  The  Mexicans  frequently  buried  the  dead  in  the 
courts  of  their  houses ;  some  of  the  ancient  and  modern  tribes 
of  South  America  used  their  houses  as  places  of  interment,  and 
we  may  trace  the  same  practice  among  the  Charibs,  the  Choc- 
taws,  Creeks,  Chickasaws  and  other  southern  tribes  of  North 
America.  The  same  anxious  desire  to  preserve  the  remains  of 
the  departed  may  be  perceived  in  the  habit  of  embalming,  which 
was  customary  with  such  nations  as  possessed  sufficient  know 
ledge  for  that  purpose.  The  custom  of  interring  or  exposing 
the  bodies  upon  scaffolds,  until  the  flesh  could  be  cleansed  from 
the  bones,  which  existed  among  many  tribes,  maybe  attributed 
to  the  same  motive.  But  the  most  striking  conformity  in  fune 
ral  rites  may  be  observed,  in  the  peculiar  position  which  was 
given  to  the  body  upon  interment.  The  Mexicans  placed  it  in 
the  tomb  "  in  a  sitting  posture  :"  the  same  disposition  of  the 
corpse  is  observed  in  the  Peruvian  graves  and  huacas,  and  in  the 
ancient  graves  of  the  United  States :  it  was  common  also  to  the 
Patagonians,  the  Guaranies,  the  Puris,  Coroados,  Tupinambas, 
Botocudos  and  Mongoyos  of  Brazil,  and  the  Muyscas  of  New 
Grenada ;  to  the  Charibs,  the  Choctaws,  the  Creeks,  the  Ar 
kansas,  the  Alibamous,  the  Omahaws,  the  Mandans,  the  Iro- 
quois,  and  to  most  of  the  numerous  families  of  the  great  and 
wide-spread  Algonquin-Lenape  race.* 


*  King  and  Fitzroy's  Voyages,  vol.  ii.  p.  155.  Dobrizhoffer,  vol. 
i.  p.  139.  Southey's  Hist.  Brazil,  vol.  i.  p.  248.  Spix  and  Martius, 
vol.  ii.  p.  250.  Henderson's  Brazil,  pp.  99, 109,  305.  Arch.  Am.,  vol. 
i.  p.  378.  Adair,  p.  182.  Charlevoix's  Voyage,  voL  ii.  p.  142,  Col- 


196  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

7.  The  maize.  No  fact  is  more  remarkable  in  the  history 
of  Indian  civilization,  than  the  extensive  diffusion  and  cultiva 
tion  of  the  maize.  In  South  America  it  is  found,  together  with 
other  useful  plants,  in  regions  where  it  cannot  be  indigenous. 
In  the  other  continent,  though  it  is  manifestly  the  native  pro 
duction  of  a  warmer  climate,  it  was  cultivated  by  tribes  inhab 
iting  very  high  latitudes.  In  Massachusetts,  there  was  a  clear 
and  distinct  tradition,  that  it  had  been  obtained  from  the  "south 
west  ;"  and  in  New  York,  it  was  said  to  be  the  gift  of  "  the 
southern  Indians,  who  received  their  seed  from  a  people  who 
resided  still  further  south  ;"  and  before  its  introduction  they  fed 
upon  roots  and  the  bark  of  trees.*  It  cannot  be  denied,  that  in 
South  America  the  progress  of  civilization  may  be  traced  from 
north  to  south,  and  in  North  America  in  the  contrary  direction. 
Every  thing  seems  to  point  to  the  plains  of  Peru,  and  of  New 

den.  Van  Der  Donck's  New  Netherlands,  in  Coll.  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc., 
vol.  i.  N.  S.  p.  201.  This  subject  attracted  the  attention  of  Dr.  Mor 
ton,  in  his  Crania  Americana,  from  which  work  several  instances 
noted  in  the  text  have  been  taken.  Perhaps  some  clue  to  the  origin 
of  this  curious  custom,  may  be  gathered  from  the  hint  contained  in 
the  following  extract  from  Charlevoix.  Believing,  as  the  Indians 
generally  did,  that  death  was  but  a  passage  to  another  life,  and  as  it 
were,  a  second  birth,  it  is  possible  that  the  position  of  the  corpse, 
when  placed  in  the  grave,  was  originally  intended  to  be  emblematic 
of  their  ideas  upon  that  subject.  "  The  dead  body,"  says  that  au 
thor,  "  dressed  in  the  finest  robe,  with  the  face  painted,  the  arms  and 
all  that  belonged  to  the  deceased  by  his  side,  is  exposed  at  the  door 
of  the  cabin,  in  the  posture  it  is  to  be  laid  in  the  tomb  j  and  this  pos 
ture  is  the  same,  in  many  places,  as  that  of  the  child  before  its  birth." 
*  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  vol.  iii.  p.  219.  Van  Der  Donck's  New 
Netherlands,  in  Coll.  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.,  vol.  i.  p.  137. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  197 

Spain  as  the  two  radiating  points  of  the  arts,  and  perhaps  as 
the  sources  of  all  the  aboriginal  population.* 

7.  Customs.  At  the  time  of  the  discovery,  the  smoking  of 
tobacco  was  a  custom  prevalent  among  nearly  all  the  Indians  of 
both  Americas;  and  the  sacred  character  of  the  calumet,  with 
the  ritual  ceremony  of  smoking  to  the  sun  and  to  the  cardinal 
points,  was  almost  equally  general.  The  practice  of  cutting 
off  the  heads  of  those  enemies  who  had  fallen  in  battle,  and  of 
scalping ;  the  habits  of  eradicating  the  beard,  shaving  various 
parts  of  the  head,  and  of  cranial  compression,  were  common  to 
many  native  families  of  both  continents ;  and  finally,  in  the 
institution  of  clan-ship,  observable  in  South,  as  well  as  in 
North  America  ;f  in  the  domestication  of  the  dog,  and  the  use 

*  It  may  be  interesting  to  see  the  extension  of  the  use  of  copper. 
The  Peruvians,  Mexicans,  and  perhaps  the  Mound-builders,  were 
acquainted  with  the  art  of  hardening,  and  fabricating  instruments  of 
that  metal.  Acosta  says  the  Indians  used  copper  weapons. — iLib.  iv. 
c.  3.  .  The  natives  of  Chile,  says  Molina,  made  use  "  of  the  bell-metal 
copper  which  is  very  hard ;  of  this  they  made  axes,  hatchets  and 
other  edged  tools." — Molina,  vol.  ii.  p.  21.  Fernando  de  Soto  saw 
axes  of  copper  in  Florida,  "  which  they  said  was  mingled  with  gold." 
— A  Relation  of  the  Invasion  and  Conquest  of  Florida,  etc.,  p.  75, 
cited  in  Am.  Phi.  Tr.,  vol.  iv.  p.  202, — and  Garcillasso  de  la  Vega 
confirms  this  statement.  Captain  Smith,  Verazzano,  and  other  early 
voyagers  observed  articles  of  wrought  copper  in  general  use  for 
ornaments  and  other  purposes,  by  the  Indians  along  the  North  Amer 
ican  coast.  The  Caracoli  of  the  Charibs  is  thought  to  have  been 
composed  of  copper,  and  silver  and  gold. — Sheldon,  in  Arch.  Am., 
vol.  i.  p.  398.  The  inhabitants  of  New  England  appear  to  have  pos 
sessed  and  manufactured  "  chains,  collars  and  drinking  cups"  of  cop 
per. — Brierton,  in  Smith's  Travels,  vol.  i.  p.  107. 

t  Dobrizhoffer,  vol.  ii.  p.  440. 


198  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

of  that  animal  in  sacrifices;  in  the  custom  of  tatooing;  in  the 
semi-mythological  method  of  explaining  eclipses ;  in  the  prac 
tice  of  piercing  the  lips  and  ears,  and  wearing  ornaments  in  the 
apertures ;  in  the  preparation  of  intoxicating  liquors  from  native 
products,  and  in  the  use  of  vapor-baths, — we  discover  analogies, 
not  universal,  but,  in  connection  with  other  proofs,  sufficiently 
forcible  to  favor  a  belief  in  the  relationship  and  common  de 
scent  of  all  the  tribes,  barbarous  and  cultivated.  The  most 
usual  objection  opposed  to  this  opinion,  is  the  great  diversity  of 
the  native  languages,  but  it  is  just  such  a  diversity  as  might  be 
anticipated,  were  the  epoch  of  the  dispersion  of  this  race  placed 
at  a  very  early  period :  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  general 
resemblance  of  all  the  languages,  in  their  structure,  is  explicable 
only  upon  the  supposition  of  their  common  origin  at  some  such 
remote  age.  Upon  instituting  a  comparison  on  other  points, 
the  great  family  likeness  that  prevails  in  all  the  customs  and 
institutions,  from  the  Fuegians  to  the  Esquimaux,  can  be  owing 
neither  to  accident,  nor  to  the  operation  of  the  same  natural 
causes  and  influences ;  it  is  often  arbitrary,  and  unless  traced 
to  an  ancient  affiliation,  exhibits  a  most  extraordinary  phe 
nomenon. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  199 


CHAPTER  III. 

ABORIGINAL    MIGRATIONS. 

IN  the  examination  of  the  ruins  in  North  America,  the 
traditions  connected  with  them,  and  their  localities,  those  in  the 
southern  portion  of  the  continent  present  undoubted  claims  to 
the  highest  antiquity.  We  there  trace  the  strongest  and  most 
decisive  marks  of  a  primitive  people,  in  monuments  and  institu 
tions  of  a  primeval  character  closely  allied  to  the  type  of 
ancient  civilization  upon  the  old  continent.  Conceding  Asia 
to  have  been  the  birth-place  of  man,  the  first  seats  of  a  colony 
from  the  eastern  hemisphere,  must  be  sought  upon  the  shores  of 
the  ocean.  The  claims  of  Florida  to  this  preference  have  al 
ready  been  examined.  On  the  west  and  north-west  the  ruins 
in  the  United  States  are  limited,  and  nowhere  along  the  shores 
of  the  Pacific  until  we  reach  Mexico,  are  there  any  relics  of 
antiquity  ;  but  as  we  penetrate  further  to  the  south,  we  find 
these  ancient  memorials  increase,  until  arriving  at  that  region, 
which  stretches  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
we  find  a  territory,  teeming  with  the  vestiges  of  a  great  people, 
rich  in  stupendous  monuments,  and  abounding  in  proofs  of  an 
ancient,  and  a  primitive  population.  Here,  therefore,  are  we 
compelled  to  place  the  first  abode  of  the  civilized  nations — the 
original  centre,  whence  population  was  diffused  and  radiated, 
through  the  immense  regions  of  the  north.  But  here  we  per 
ceive,  also,  traces  of  many  national  changes,  revolutions  and 


200  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

migrations,  the  precise  order,  succession  and  history  of  which, 
it  is  impossible  to  indicate.  Two  distinct  epochs,  however, 
may  be  observed,  denoted  by  some  peculiar  features  in  arch 
itecture,  institutions,  and  traditions.  The  first,  which  has 

i|  sometimes  been  called  the  age  of  the  Toltecs,  was  characterized 
by  many  of  the  distinctive  forms  of  primitive  civilization  and  by 
a  mild  religion.  In  this  era  the  vast  terraced  pyramids  of 
Cholula  and  Teotihuacan  were  erected,  and  even  then  were  in 
existence,  those  mythological  fables,  and  those  systems  of 
astronomy,  and  hieroglyphical  painting,  which  were  common 
to  most  of  the  nations  of  Anahuac,  Guatemala  and  Yucatan. 
The  ruins  of  Palenque,  Copan,  Mitlan  and  Uxmal,  not  only 
present  many  mutual  analogies,  but  are  closely  related  by 
numerous  characteristic  features  to  those  of  Mexico  ;  they  ap 
pear  however  to  be  the  most  ancient,  or  rather  to  be  the  pro 
ductions  of  the  most  ancient  people,  and  not  to  have  been  of 
Aztec  origin.  When  the  Toltecs,  who  led  the  van  of  the  great 
Aztec  migration  from  the  north,  settled  in  Mexico,  they  are 

^  said  to  have  found  it  inhabited  by  the  Olmecas  or  Olmees,  a 
nation  to  which  the  learned  Siguenza  ascribed  the  construction 
of  the  pyramids  of  Teotihuacan.  At  the  south,  the  Mixtecas 
and  Zapotecas,  who  spoke  original  languages,  and  in  whose 
vicinity  the  ruins  of  Mitlan  are  found,  appear  also  to  have 
been  ancient  nations.  The  Toltecs  in  their  next  movement 
passed  into  Guatemala,  which  was  occupied  by  civilized  tribes, 
speaking  idioms  unlike  the  Aztec;  and  there  left  traces  of 
their  invasion  in  some  remains  of  their  language.  They  do 
not  seem  however  to  have  proceeded  into  Yucatan,  for  the 
Maya  tongue  which  pervades  that  peninsula,  and  penetrates 
even  into  Guatemala,  contains  no  Aztec  words.  It  appears 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  201 

clear,  therefore,  that  even  before  the  arrival  of  the   Toltecs     // 
there  were  many  civilized  nations  inhabiting  this  territory ;  and 
yet  we  are  forcibly  struck  with  the  resemblance  which  existed 
between  the  arts,  religion  and  institutions  of  these  original  in 
habitants,  and  those  of  the  northern  invaders.     For  example, 
in  Yucatan,  where  there  cannot  be  the  least  suspicion  of  a 
Toltec  migration,  the  ancient  Maya  calendar,  like  the  Mexican, 
was  divided  into  eighteen  months  of  twenty  days;  as  appears   '' 
from  the  ruins  of  Uxmal.  some  of  the  astronomical  symbols,  and 
four  of  the  hieroglyphical  signs  of  the  days  are  identical  with 
the  Mexican ;  and  the  day  seems  to  have  been  divided  into 
eight  intervals.*     The  Mayas  had  also  their  picture  writings 
called  "  Analthes,"  which  were  written  upon  bark,  folded  up    (J 
into  books  like  those  of  the  Aztecs.     Their  mythological  tra 
ditions  were  somewhat  similar,  and  their  great  legislator  Zam-     ff 
na,  like  Quetzalcoatl,  appeared  from  the  east.     The  greatest 
dissimilarity  exhibited,  is  in  the  style  of  architecture,  but  the 
Yucatanese  displayed  a  preference  for  the  pyramid  in  their 
sacred  edifices,  and  as  the  Aztec,  it  was  built  so  as  to  corres-    // 
pond  with  the  cardinal  points.     The  same  method  of  sacrificing 
was  common  to  both  nations ;  and  in  the  Maya  delineations  of 
the  human  countenance,  may  be  observed  the  receding  facial 
angle,  prominent  nose  and  protruding  lip,  which  are  remarkable 
in  the  paintings  of  the  Aztecs.    Waldeck  has  instituted  a  compa 
rison  between  the  ruins  of  Palenque  and  Uxmal,  and  demon 
strated  many  features  of  resemblance.f     Del  Rio  also  observed,     // 
that  the  identity  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Yucatan  and  Pa 
lenque  is  evidently  proved  by  the  strong  analogy  of  their  cus- 

*  Waldeck,  p.  39.  t  Ibid.  p.  19,  etc. 

26 


202  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

toras,  buildings,  and  acquaintance  with  the  arts, — a  conclusion 
which  conforms  to  a  tradition  of  a  migration  into  Yucatan  from 

,  the  west.*  The  Chiapanese  claimed  to  be  the  most  ancient  of 
nations,  and  yet  their  calendar,  like  the  Mexican,  was  divided 
into  eighteen  months  of  twenty  days ;  and,  in  common  with  the 
Mixtecas  and  Zapotecas,  they  used  hieroglyphical  paintings, 
and  possessed  a  mythology  somewhat  similar  to  the  Aztec.  It 
would  seem,  therefore,  that  in  the  first  age  population  was  dif- 

//  fused  through  the  regions  of  the  north,  to  return  by  one  of  those 
refluxes,  which  were  common  in  the  early  periods  of  history. 
Accordingly,  the  second  epoch  was  marked  by  the  appearance 
of  numerous  tribes,  which,  during  the  long  series  of  ages  they 
had  been  separated  from  their  parent  stock,  appear  to  have 
acquired  a  fierce,  unruly  and  warlike  disposition,  and  some  of 
them  to  have  fallen  away  in  a  measure  from  their  ancient 
civilization,  though  they  had  still  preserved  a  striking  resem 
blance  to  their  ancestral  nations.  These  tribes,  it  is  conceived, 

//    were  the  authors  of  the  mounds,  and  mural  remains  in  the  United 

States.     Their  migrations  were  recorded  in  the  hieroglyphical 

paintings,  and,  according  to  the  received  computations,  occurred 

/(   at  successive  dates,  ranging  from  the  middle  of  the  seventh  to 

the  end  of  the  twelfth  century.     The  Toltecs,  the  first  of  these 

/  bands,  left  their  former  residence,  called  Huehuetapallan,  A.  D. 
544.  They  proceeded  in  a  southerly  direction,  and,  after  a 
journey  of  one  hundred  and  four  years,  arrived  in  the  neighbor 
hood  of  the  city  of  Mexico  ;  where,  after  a  brief  interval,  they 

/>  founded  the  city  of  Tula  or  Tollan.  They  brought  with  them 
paintings,  representing  the  various  events  of  their  long  pilgrim- 

*  Del  Rio,  p.  8. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  203 

age,  from  which  the  astrologer  Huematzin  there  compiled  his 
"  Divine  Book"  in  the  year  660,  containing,  besides  the  history 
of  the  nation,  the  principal  features  of  their  knowledge  and  in 
stitutions.*  In  the  year  1170  appeared  the  Chichimecs,  and  in 
1178  the  Nahualtecs.  The  Acolhues  and  Aztecs  ended  this 
series  of  migrations  in  the  year  1196,  having  proceeded  like 
wise  from  a  northern  country,  denominated  Aztlan.  All  of 
these  tribes,  inclusive  of  the  Toltecs,  were  of  the  same  descent, 
and  spoke  the  same  language,  and  had  occupied  the  same  terri 
tory.  This  identity  of  origin  appeared  also  in  the  similarity  of 
their  institutions  and  religion,  and  in  their  close  physiognomical 
resemblance. 

The  etymology  of  Aztlan  appears  to  denote  a  country  of  /  / 
water,  a  topographical  description  of  their  former  residence, 
confirmed  by  the  history  of  their  migration,  as  represented  in 
the  hieroglyphical  manuscripts, — particularly  that  at  Berlin. 
We  there  perceive  indications  of  that  territory  in  the  delinea 
tion  of  marshy  lands ;  prints  of  feet  are  also  observed,  exhibit 
ing  the  approach  of  hostile  bands, — arrows  shot  from  one  bank 
of  a  river  to  another,  and  combats  between  two  different  peo 
ple, — the  one  armed  with  the  Aztec  shield,  the  other  naked 
and  without  armor.  In  another  of  these  pictures,  the  conflicts 
are  represented  as  taking  place  with  a  savage  race  clothed  in 


*  Humboldt's  Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  205.  Hum.  Pol.  E.,  vol.  i.  p.  100. 
The  name  of  Anahuac  applied  by  the  Mexicans  to  the  valley  of 
Mexico,  signifies  "near  to  the  water."  The  Aztecs  were  said  to 
have  brought  the  name  of  their  former  country  with  them,  and  this 
designation  possibly  relates  likewise  to  their  ancient  locality. — 
vol.  i.  p.  1. 


204  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE   ORIGIN  AND 

skins.  The  paintings  imply  generally,  that  these  migrations 
were  made  from  the  north,  and  it  became  an  object  with  those 
interested  in  the  investigation  of  the  origin  of  these  nations,  to 
discover  some  vestiges  in  that  direction,  by  which  their  route 
might  be  traced.  Accordingly,  it  was  soon  ascertained  that 
some  tribes  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Rio  Gila  retained  remnants  of 
a  former  civilization  f  and,  in  fact,  upon  the  banks  of  that  river 
the  missionaries  succeeded  in  finding  the  ruins  of  an  ancient 
city,  which  they  denominated  "  Casas  Grandes."  These  re 
mains  covered  an  area  of  more  than  a  square  league,  and  they 
seemed  analogous  to  the  edifices  constructed  by  the  Mexicans, 
at  the  south.  This  was  then  decided  to  be  the  second  abode  of 
the  Aztecs,  as  represented  in  the  paintings ;  the  third  was 
readily  found  nearer  to  Mexico,  in  the  former  intendancy  of 
New  Biscay;  and  as  to  the  first,  it  was  supposed  to  exist 
ff  somewhere  near  the  shores  of  lake  Timpanogo.  By  this  inter 
pretation,  the  original  country  of  the  Aztecs  was  placed  far  to 
the  west ;  but  a  more  accurate  knowledge  of  the  regions  in  the 
vicinity,  and  to  the  north  and  east  of  the  Rio  Gila,  has  demon 
strated  the  unsoundness  of  this  conjecture. 

That  civilization,  in  diverging  from  its  central  position  in 
Mexico,  was  carried  along  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  is  highly 
probable ;  indeed,  traces  of  the  Mexican  language  have  been 
perceived  among  the  maritime  tribes  occupying  very  high  lati 
tudes.  But,  in  proceeding  north  from  the  Rio  Gila,  these  ves 
tiges  become  faint ;  and  it  is  certain  that,  in  the  whole  extent 
of  that  region,  no  ruins  have  been  discovered  that  indicate  the 
former  locality  of  a  cultivated  people.f  The  very  character  of 

*  Venega's  Hist.  California,  vol.  i.  p.  58 ;  vol.  ii.  184. 
f  Gallatin,  in  Arch.  Am.,  vol.  ii.  p.  146. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  205 

the  country  is  opposed  to  such  an  idea ;  for,  north  of  the  Rio 
Gil  a,  there  stretches  an  immense  sandy  desert,  of  too  sterile  a 
character  for  the  subsistence  of  an  agricultural  population.  To 
the  east  of  the  mountains,  however,  and  in  a  more  direct  line  of 
communication  with  the  United  States,  there  are  ancient  re 
mains  which  seem  to  connect  those  of  our  western  country  with 
the  Mexican.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that,  if  the  existence 
of  the  monuments  in  the  United  States,  and  their  decided  ana 
logy  to  those  of  New  Spain,  had  been  known  to  those  who  first 
interpreted  the  Aztec  paintings,  they  would  have  united  in 
placing  ancient  Aztlan  in  some  of  those  rich  valleys  of  the  West 
where  the  memorials  of  an  exiled  race  still  abound. 

In  the  further  pursuit  of  this  inquiry,  it  may  be  useful  to 
inquire  whether  any  of  the  Indian  traditions  tend  to  elucidate 
the  question  of  the  origin  of  the  mounds  and  mural  remains. 
The  southern  Indians  state,  that  when  their  ancestors  migrated 
from  the  west,  they  found  these  ruins  deserted,  and  that  the  '( 
tribes  which  they  dispossessed  had  also  observed  them,  upon  their 
first  occupation  of  that  country.  The  Creeks,  Cherokees  and 
Seminoles  are  all  united,  in  attributing  their  erection  to  the  an 
cient  and  unknown  inhabitants,  without  any  definite  tradition 
upon  the  subject.*  Indeed,  their  origin  is  an  entire  mystery  to 
most  of  the  present  Indian  tribes, — a  circumstance  by  no  means 
surprising,  when  we  reflect  that  they  were  not  acquainted  with 
any  accurate  and  permanent  method  of  recording  events. 
There  is  an  old  Delaware  tradition,  which,  whatever  may  be  its 
other  claims  to  consideration,  merits  attention,  as  being  the  only 
detailed  narrative  connected  with  the  history  of  the  Mound-  l' 
builders,  and  for  its  congruity  with  the  traditions  of  the 

*  Bartram's  Travels,  p.  365. 


206  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

Iroquois.  They  related,  that  the  great  race  of  the  Lenni- 
Lenape,  many  centuries  ago,  inhabited  a  country  far  to  the 
west.  Upon  migrating  eastwardly,  they  found  the  territory 
east  of  the  Mississippi  occupied  by  a  numerous  and  civilized 
people,  whom  they  denominate  the  Alligewi, — and  who  lived 
in  fortified  towns.  The  Indians  made  an  application  to  pass 
over  the  river,  and  through  their  country,  to  the  eastward; 
which  request,  though  at  first  refused,  was  subsequently  acceded 
to,  under  directions  to  make  no  settlements  until  they  had 
passed  the  Alligewi  boundaries.  In  accordance  with  this  per 
mission,  that  tribe  made  the  attempt,  but  during  the  passage  of 
the  river  was  attacked,  and  driven  back.  Upon  this  a  league 
wras  struck  with  the  Iroquois,  who  had  also  emigrated  from  the 
west,  and  reached  the  river  at  a  higher  point ;  and  the  com 
bined  forces  of  the  allied  tribes  assailed  the  Alligewi  so  fiercely, 
that,  after  suffering  severe  losses  and  numerous  defeats,  to 
escape  extermination,  they  finally  fled  down  the  shores  of  the 
Mississippi.  The  vast  and  beautiful  territory,  thus  abandoned 
to  the  conquerors,  was  divided  between  them;  the  Iroquois 
selecting  the  district  upon  the  borders  of  the  great  lakes,  and 
the  Lenni-Lenape,  an  extensive  tract  of  land  lying  further  to 
the  south  and  towards  the  Atlantic.  One  of  the  Iroquois 
tribes,  the  Senecas,  relate  that  at  a  very  distant  era,  the 
country  about  the  lakes  was  occupied  by  a  powerful  and 
populous  nation,  who  were  destroyed  by  their  ancestors.* 
Several  of  the  most  beautiful,  and  the  richest  locations  of 
the  six  nations,  are  stated  by  them  to  have  been  inhabited  and 
cultivated!  before  their  arrival,  by  another  people  whose  burial 

*  Yates  and  Moulton's  Hist.  New-York,  p.  40. 
t  Life  of  Brant,  vol.  ii.  p.  487.    Ibid.  vol.  ii.  486. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  207 

places  they  distinguish  from  their  own.  The  tradition  they 
have  received  of  these  ancient  inhabitants  from  their  fathers, 
states  that  they  formerly  occupied  a  wide  extent  of  territory, 
and  were  eventually  extirpated  by  the  Iroquois,  after  long  and 
bloody  wars.  It  is  added  in  detail,  that  the  last  fortification 
was  attacked  by  four  of  the  tribes,  who  were  repulsed ;  but  the 
Mohawks  having  been  called  in,  their  combined  power  was 
irresistible,  the  town  was  taken,  and  all  the  besieged  destroyed. 
The  conformity  of  these  traditions  to  the  vestiges  of  civilization 
at  the  west,  and  to  the  Mexican  narratives,  as  contained  in  their 
paintings,  entitles  them  to  more  weight  than  they  would  other 
wise  deserve.  They  proceed  also  from  nations,  which  from 
their  numbers,  their  extensive  diffusion  over  a  wide  region,  and 
some  features  in  their  customs  and  character,  appear  to  be 
among  the  first  and  most  ancient  occupants,  after  the  country 
was  abandoned  by  its  former  inhabitants.  The  Algonquin- 
Lenape  and  Iroquois  seem  to  have  been  borne  upon  the  first 
wave  of  that  tide  of  migration  from  the  west,  which  probably 
swept  before  it  the  Aztecs  and  Toltecs ;  and  the  former  were 
precisely  in  that  position,  where  we  should  expect  to  find  the 
foremost  of  the  invading  hordes, — at  the  east,  and  along  the 
shores  of  the  Atlantic.  It  is  unnecessary  to  examine  minutely 
the  native  traditions,  to  prove  the  direction  of  these  migratory 
movements ;  for  no  fact  is  more  clearly  established,  than  their 
universal  agreement  in  tracing  their  origin  to  the  west — or  n 
south-west.  These  facts,  in  connection  with  those  which  have 
been  exhibited,  as  proving  the  common  origin  of  all  the  ab 
origines,  favor  the  conclusion  that  the  original  source  of  popu 
lation  is  to  be  placed  in  Mexico  and  Central  America ;  and  the 
vestiges  of  civilization  observed  among  the  Natchez  and  other 


208  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

nations,  the  traditions  of  a  period,  when  many  tribes  were  more 
cultivated  and  numerous  than  at  present ;  the  evidences  which 
exist  of  important  alterations  in  their  dress,*  customs  and  reli 
gion,  and  of  a  declension  in  the  arts,  since  the  discovery,  all 
tend  to  confirm  this  idea.  The  exceptions,  if  any,  which  exist, 
are  chiefly  confined  to  some  western  and  northern  tribes,  to 
which,  an  Asiatic  origin  by  Behring's  straits  and  the  Alentian 
islands,  may  with  some  plausibility  be  ascribed. 

South  America.  In  endeavoring  to  trace  out  some  facts  in 
the  ancient  history  of  Peru,  it  is  essential  to  guard  against  an 
implicit  reliance  upon  the  authenticity  of  all  those  narratives, 
which  have  been  furnished  by  Garcillasso  de  la  Vega.  To  ex 
alt  the  dignity  and  glory  of  those  "  Children  of  the  Sun,"  whose 
descendant  he  claimed  to  be,  appears  to  have  been  the  promi 
nent  purpose  of  this  historian,  and  with  artist-like  skill  every 
object  has  been  made  subservient  to  the  main  design.  Though 
he  admits  that  the  history  of  ancient  Peru  was  divided  into 
two  ages,  in  the  first  of  which  the  edifices  at  Tiahuanaco  were 
erected,  he  yet  denounces  the  state  of  society  then  existing,  as 
barbarous,  and  attributes  all  civilization  to  the  advent  of  the 
first  Inca.  Well  aware,  however,  that  many  of  the  tribes  con 
quered  by  those  sovereigns,  were  not  at  the  time  of  their  sub 
jugation,  in  so  degraded  a  condition  as  he  has  drawn  of  the 
first  age,  he  concedes  that  some  of  the  natives  were  more  culti 
vated,  and  amongst  other  admissions,  that  they  possessed  a  more 
rational  religion,  and  worshipped  such  things  as  seemed  to  be 
of  use  and  profit,  as  fire  and  the  maize.  And  yet  in  the  recital 

*  "  The  savages  of  the  Northern  America,  as  their  ancestors  re 
port,  have  always  gone  clothed,  even  before  they  had  any  commerce 
with  the  Europeans." — Hennepin,  vol.  ii.  p.  79. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  209 

of  the  tradition  of  Manco  Capac,  we  are  told  that  he  introduced 
the  worship  of  the  Sun,  the  cultivation  of  the  soil, — and  his 
wife,  the  weaving  of  cloths.  From  an  examination  of  the 
contents  of  many  of  the  huacas,  which  existed  in  districts  un- 
conquered  until  a  very  late  period,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
there  were  many  tribes  who  possessed  these  arts,  independent  of 
the  Incas  ;  and  the  ruins  of  cities  and  other  monuments  of  an 
epoch  probably  before  the  age  of  the  Incas,  confirm  this  view. 
The  huacas  on  the  plains  of  Del  Chimu,  near  Truxillo,  were 
built  by  the  subjects  of  the  Grand  Chimu,  a  prince  reduced  by 
Yupanqui,  the  son  of  Pachacutec  the  Ninth  Inca :  and  yet  the 
articles,  exhumed  from  these  mounds,  indicate  customs  and  arts 
analogous  to  those  of  the  Peruvians  proper ;  and  more  treasures 
and  curious  antiquities  have  been  found  in  them,  than  in  those 
of  any  other  of  the  Peruvian  valleys.*  How  is  this  inconsis 
tency  to  be  reconciled  ?  Are  we  to  consider  the  tradition  of 
Manco  Capac  as  an  idle  invention  of  later  times  ?  So  bold  an 
idea  could  scarcely  be  ventured  ;  but  as  it  has  already  appear 
ed,  that  the  same  ancient  tradition  under  other  forms  was  com 
mon  to  many  of  the  aboriginal  nations,  so,  even  Garcillasso 
affords  evidence  of  its  existence  among  the  very  tribes  he  brands 
as  uncivilized.  The  Indians  to  the  south  and  west  of  Cuzco, 
he  observes,  say  that  after  the  waters  of  the  deluge  had  subsided, 
a  certain  man  appeared  in  the  country  of  Tiahuanaco.  He 
divided  the  world  into  four  parts  which  he  gave  respectively 
to  four  kings,  the  first  of  whom  was  Manco  Capac,  who  pro 
ceeded  to  the  north,  arrived  in  the  valley  of  Cuzco,  founded  a 
city,  and  subjugated,  and  instructed  the  neighboring  people.f 

*  Stevenson,  vol.  ii.  p.  121.    Ruschenberger,  p.  381. 
t  Vega,  vol.  i.  pp.  39,  40. 

27 


210  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

The  Indians  who  lived  to  the  east  and  north  of  Cuzco,  he  adds, 
report  another  origin.  They  say,  that  at  the  commencement  of 
the  world,  four  men  and  four  women  who  were  brothers  and 
sisters,  proceeded  from  windows  in  certain  rocks  near  Cuzco. 
These  windows  were  three  in  number ;  the  first  of  the  brothers 
was  Manco  Capac,  and  his  wife  Mama  Oello.  Now  it  is  evi 
dent  from  both  these  traditions,  that  the  epoch  of  the  appear 
ance  of  Manco  Capac  was  carried  back  to  the  time  of  the 
deluge,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that,  as  the  same  historian  in 
forms  us,  some  curious  Spaniards  considered  these  fables  as 
referring  to  that  great  event,  and  "  to  the  four  men  and  four 
women  whom  God  saved  from  the  universal  deluge." 

The  tradition  of  Manco  Capac,  therefore,  seems  most  evi 
dently  to  have  been  a  primitive  one,  of  which  some  enterprising 
Peruvian  sovereign  judiciously  availed  himself,  to  secure  the 
allegiance  of  his  new  subjects  :  indeed  this  author  admits  that 
Manco  Capac  was  some  ambitious  " Indian"  In  the  early 
ages  a  divine  origin  was  claimed  by  many  lines  of  sovereigns, 
and  the  title  of  "  Children  of  the  Sun"  was  not  peculiar  to  the 
Peruvian  kings.  We  are  to  consider  civilization,  then,  as 
having  existed  in  South  America,  prior  to  the  foundation  of  the 
empire  of  the  Incas.  It  has  already  been  traced  over  a  vast 
region  by  the  ruins  of  ancient  monuments  still  visible,  and  it 
appears  to  have  flourished  principally  along  the  borders  of  the 
Pacific. 

It  is  an  interesting  question,  whether  any  traces  of  connec 
tion  can  be  discovered,  on  the  north,  between  the  cultivated 
nations  beyond  the  Isthmus  of  Darien,  and  those  of  South  Ame 
rica.  Was  the  chain  broken,  in  this  direction — was  the  conti 
nuity  of  civilization  interrupted  by  the  intervention  of  barbarous 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  211 

tribes  ?  Clearly  not,  if  we  are  to  credit  the  early  accounts. 
Indeed,  at  the  conquest,  the  Spaniards  found  in  Panama  large  / 1 
Indian  towns  governed  by  Zaques  or  Princes ,  at  Darien  and 
other  places,  they  discovered  a  semi-civilized  population,  who 
cultivated  the  soil,  were  clothed  in  cotton  garments,  and  were 
rich  in  gold,  pearls  and  precious  stones ;  and  here  they  received 
the  first  intimation  of  the  existence  of  the  empire  of  the  Incas. 
Bias  Valera*  says  that  the  Antis,  a  tribe  who  worshipped  the 
Sun  and  sacrificed  human  beings,  had  migrated  from  Mexico, 
peopled  all  the  countries  of  Darien  and  Panama,  and  thence 
passed  along  the  mountains  of  New  Granada.  A  curious  cor- 
roboration  of  this  fact  is  afforded  in  the  precise  resemblance 
between  one  of  the  Indian  dances  still  practised  at  Angostura, 
on  the  Magdalena,  about  six  degrees  north  latitude,  and  another 
customary  in  Yucatan. 

In  Yucatan,  says  Clavigero,  they  fixed  in  the  earth  a  tree  or 
strong  post,  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  high,  from  the  top  of  which, 
according  to  the  number  of  dancers,  they  suspended  twenty  or 
more  small  cords,  all  long  and  of  different  colors.  When  each  ' 
dancer  had  taken  hold  of  the  end  of  his  cord,  they  all  began  to 
dance  to  the  sound  of  musical  instruments,  crossing  each  other 
with  great  dexterity,  until  they  formed  a  beautiful  network 
of  the  cords  around  the  tree,  on  which  the  colors  appeared 
"checkered  in  admirable  order.  Whenever  the  cords,  on  ac 
count  of  the  twisting,  became  so  short  that  the  dancers  could 
hardly  keep  hold  of  them  with  their  arms  raised  up,  by  crossing 
each  other  again,  they  undid  and  unwound  them  from  the  tree.f 
The  following  is  the  description  of  the  Indian  dance  at  Angostu-  \f 

*  In  Vega,  vol.  i.  p.  25.  f  Clavigero,  vol.  i.  p.  401. 


212  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

ra, — "  the  pole-dance, — so  called  from  the  production  of  a  pole 
about  ten  feet  high,  and  a,bout  four  or  five  inches  in  circumfer 
ence.  At  the  head  is  a  round  ball  or  truck,  immediately 
under  which  are  fastened  twelve  different-colored  and  various- 
striped  pieces  of  French  tape,  about  half  an  inch  broad,  and 
about  twelve  feet,  each  piece,  in  length.  The  pole  being  kept 
perpendicularly  supported,  each  Indian  lad  lays  hold  of  a  line 
of  tape,  which  is  drawn  to  its  full  length,  the  whole  forming  a 
large  circle  around  the  pole,  one  regularly  covering  his  com 
panion  in  front.  At  a  signal  from  the  chief,  the  music  strikes 
up  a  favorite  tune,  and  the  circle  becomes  in  motion,  half  of  the 
performers  facing  to  the  right  about.  On  the  second  signal, 
each  step  off,  and  meeting  each  other,  pass  on  in  succession 
right  and  left,  and  so  continue,  until  the  twelve  lines  of  tape 
are  entwined  in  checked  order,  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of 
the  pole,  and  so  regular  is  the  appearance,  that  it  would  be 
difficult  to  find  a  flaw  or  mistake  in  it.  A  halt  for  the  moment 
takes  place,  and  the  same  process  is  renewed  to  unwind  the 
tape,  which  is  as  regularly  completed  as  before,  by  inverting 
the  dance  and  leading  from  left  to  right."*  But,  still  further 
to  the  south,  we  find  other  analogies.  The  Araucanians  wor 
shipped  the  Sun  and  Moon,  and  their  sacrifices  were  similar  to 
those  usual  in  New  Spain.  They  consisted  in  opening  the  breast, 
and  tearing  out  the  heart  of  the  victim,  while  yet  alive,  and  in* 
sprinkling  the  blood  from  the  heart  towards  the  sun.f  Vega 
describes  an  analogous  custom  among  some  of  the  Peruvian 

*  Hippisley's  Narrative  of  the  Expedition  to  the  Rivers  Orinoco 
and  Apure,  p.  312. 

t  Frezier's  Voyage,  p.  64.  Graham's  Chile,  appendix,  pp.  427, 
429.  Molina,  vol.  ii.  p.  71. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  213 

tribes,  before  the  era  of  the  Incas.  The  method  was,  he  says, 
to  open  the  body  while  the  victims  were  still  alive,  to  take  out 
the  heart,  which  was  burnt,  and  with  the  smoking  blood  to 
besmear  the  idols.*  It  may  be  added,  that  the  Mexicans  and 
Peruvians  used  the  same  kind  of  swinging  bridges,  which  have 
been  considered  as  peculiar  to  Peru. 

The  Olmecas  or  Olmecs,  it  has  been  supposed,  were  among 
the  most  ancient  inhabitants  of  New  Spain,  and  preceded  the 
Toltecs  in  the  occupation  of  that  country.  Boturini,  who  had  (( 
made  diligent  researches  into  the  ancient  picture-writings,  con 
jectured  that  they  fled  to  the  Antilles  or  to  South  America,  when 
they  were  expelled  from  their  ancient  territory.  The  Toltecs, 
according  to  tradition,  were  overwhelmed  by  a  great  famine  / 
about  the  year  1052,  and  some  of  them  passed  to  the  south-east 
into  Guatemala ;  and,  by  the  existence  of  the  Mexican  language 
in  Nicaragua,  we  may  trace  them  still  further.  It  is  a  curious  ff 
coincidence,  and  perhaps  no  more,  that  about  the  same  period 
the  foundation  of  the  Peruvian  empire  was  commenced.  In  any 
event,  analogies  have  been  developed  between  the  most  ancient 
style  of  architecture  in  Peru,  Mexico  and  North  America,  be 
tween  the  customs,  religion  and  other  institutions  of  all  the 
aborigines,  and  between  the  primitive  traditions  of  all  the  civil 
ized  nations.  In  connection  with  the  evidences  of  migration 
into  South  America,  these  facts  may  perhaps  afford  a  basis  for 
a  reasonable  conjecture,  that  the  first  seat  of  American  civiliza- 
tion  was  in  Central  America :  that  from  the  first  colony  there 
planted,  population  was  diffused  northwardly  into  the  United 
States,  whence,  at  a  subsequent  period,  the  tide  of  emigration 

*  Vega,  vol.  i.  p.  24. 


214 


RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 


rolled  back ;  and  southwardly,  along  the  Cordilleras,  into  South 
America :  and  that  at  this  remote  period,  various  tribes,  rapidly 
declining  in  civilization  as  they  separated  from  their  parent 
stock,  expanded  over  the  vast  territory  stretching  before  them 
in  both  continents,  until  the  whole  western  hemisphere  was 
peopled  by  one  great  race.* 


'"• 


*  Upon  an  old  map,  contained  in  an  edition  of  Vega  published 
1737,  the  country  in  the  "  Audience  de  Panama"  is  marked  as  "  an 
cient  Peru."  Another  indication  of  the  southerly  course  of  migra 
tion  is  afforded  in  the  Fuegian  language,  which  it  is  said  resembles 
the  Araucanian. —  Voyages  of  King  and  Fitzroy,  vol.  ii.  p.  188. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  215 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE   ROUTES   OF   MIGRATION. 

THE  course  of  the  preceding  argument  has  conducted  us  to 
the  threshold  of  that  vexed  question, — the  origin  of  the  abori 
gines.  The  first  step  towards  a  solution  of  this  problem  involves 
an  inquiry  into  the  routes,  by  which  a  colony  may  have  reached 
our  shores,  and  the  feasibility  of  such  a  migration  in  the  early 
ages  of  the  world.  In  the  examination  of  the  routes,  attention  is 
first  attracted  to  that  point  where  the  two  hemispheres  approach 
each  other, — the  straits  of  Behring.  This  narrow  body  of  water, 
the  shores  of  which  are  only  thirty-nine  miles  asunder,  opposes 
no  barrier  to  the  communication  between  Asia  and  America. 
The  passage,  which  is  facilitated  by  the  interposition  of  three 
islands,  the  St.  Diorneds,  is  frequently  made  by  the  Tchutski,  in 
their  hostile  incursions  against  the  American  natives;  while  the 
latter  are  occasionally  found  upon  the  Asiatic  side,  vending  their 
fur$  to  the  Russian  merchants.  Indeed,  the  first  intelligence  of 
the  proximity  of  the  two  continents  was  derived  from  the  Tchut 
ski,  so  early  as  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century ;  at  which 
period  they  often  crossed  the  straits  to  trade  with  the  Ameri 
cans.*  Further  to  the  south,  the  Aleutian  islands,  which 
commence  near  the  promontory  of  Alaska  and  range  in  a  south 
westerly  direction  towards  the  coast  of  Kamtschatka,  are  occu- 

/ 
*  Coxe's  Russian  Discoveries,  p.  294. 


216  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

pied  by  native  tribes  who  find  no  difficulty  in  passing  from 
island  to  island  in  their  baidars.*  The  climate  of  the  country 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  straits  appears  to  have  been  an  insuperable 
obstacle  to  the  existence  of  civilization,  and  the  inhabitants  gen 
erally  have  reached  the  lowest  stage  of  humanity.  For  a  vast 
distance  along  the  shores,  quite  into  the  interior  of  both  conti 
nents,  we  find  no  vestiges  of  a  cultivated  people ;  and  though 
by  this  route  barbarous  tribes  may  have  passed  into  America, 
it  seems  beyond  the  range  of  all  probability,  that  civilized  na 
tions  should  have  found  their  way  from  Central  Asia  to  Central 
America  through  these  cold  and  remote  regions. 

O  O 

From  the  difficulties  attendant  upon  the  supposition  of  a 
migration  by  Behring's  straits,  refuge  has  been  taken  in  two 
theories,  originated  many  years  since,  maintaining  the  former 
existence  of  large  bodies  of  land  in  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
oceans,  connecting  our  continent,  on  either  hand,  with  Europe 
and  Asia.  Of  these  conjectures,  the  one  possessing  the  greatest 
probability,  and  justified  in  some  degree  by  ancient  traditions, 
relates  to  the  island  Atlantis.  In  the  dialogues  of  Plato  entitled 
Timo3us,  the  voyage  of  Solon  to  Egypt  is  referred  to,  and  cer 
tain  conversations  recited,  which  took  place  between  him,  and 
the  priests  of  an  ancient  temple  in  the  Delta.  Alluding  t  to 
some  old  Egyptian  records,  they  related  to  the  Athenian  law 
giver,  that  many  deeds  of  his  countrymen,  there  recorded,  were 
truly  admirable, — but  one  surpassed  all  others  in  magnitude  and 
excellence.  For  the  writings  mentioned,  that  a  great  power, 
proceeding  out  of  the  Atlantic  ocean  and  spreading  itself  over 
Europe  and  Asia,  was  checked  by  the  arms  of  the  Athenians. 

*  Coxe,  pp.  75,  103. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE,  217 

It  came  from  the  island  Atlantis,  lying  in  the  ocean,  before  the 
straits,  called  by  the  Greeks  the  Pillars  of  Hercules.  This 
Atlantis  was  larger  than  Lybia  and  Asia  together,  arid  from  it 
there  was  a  passage  to  other  islands,  and  from  these  to  a  conti 
nent  beyond.  The  combined  power  of  the  kings  of  Atlantis 
was  mighty  and  wonderful.  Having  conquered  all  that,  and 
many  other  islands,  and  parts  of  the  continent,  Lybia  as  far  as 
Egypt,  and  Europe  as  far  as  Tyrrhenia,  they  undertook  to 
subdue  Greece,  Egypt,  and  all  the  country  within  the  straits. 
Athens  then  became  eminent  for  her  valor  and  strength,  and, 
though  deserted  by  the  other  states,  met  the  approaching  ene 
my,  overturned  their  trophies,  saved  the  free  from  impending- 
slavery,  and  restored  freedom  to  those  already  subdued.  But  in 
after  times,  floods  and  earthquakes  taking  place,  in  one  dreadful 
night  and  day,  the  island  Atlantis  sunk  into  the  sea,  and  disap 
peared  ;  and,  for  many  ages,  the  ocean  there  could  not  be  navi 
gated,  owing  to  the  numerous  rocks  and  shoals  with  which  it 
abounded.  In  the  Critias,  and  various  other  portions  of  Plato, 
this  lost  island  is  again  alluded  to,  and  frequent  references  are 
made  to  it  in  subsequent  classic  authors.  From  a  consideration 
also  of  the  ancient  mythology,  according  to  which,  Atlas  was 
descended  from  the  Ocean,  and  married  Hesperis  or  the  West, 
from  which  union  proceeded  the  Atlantides,  it  will  be  perceived 
this  tradition  is  more  ancient  than  Plato,  being  interwoven  with 
the  religious  fables  of  the  Greeks.  Homer's  Atlas  coincides 
with  this  tradition, — having  its  lofty  pillars  reaching  from 
heaven  to  earth,  and  its  foundations  laid  in  the  depths  of  the 
ocean.  The  garden  of  the  Hesperides,  synonymous,  according 
to  Diodorus,  with  the  Atlantides,  was  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Atlas,  and  the  Elysian  fields  are  described  as  an  enchanting 

28 


218  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

country  situate  far  to  the  westward,  beyond  the  sea.  Hesiod 
speaks  of  Atlas  in  a  similar  style,  and  as  a  neighbor  to  the 
Hesperian  nymphs.  Antaaus,  the  son  of  Atlas,  who  founded 
Tangier  on  the  African  shore  of  the  straits  of  Gibraltar,  is 
related  to  have  defended  himself  against  the  attacks  of  Hercules 
with  great  vigor,  and  having  sent  abroad  for  assistance,  it  is 
said  that  he  received  new  strength  from  his  parent,  as  often  as 
he  touched  the  ground.  The  language  of  this  fable  seems 
manifestly  to  refer  to  aid  derived  by  maritime  armaments  from 
Atlas,  which  became  effective  only  when  they  had  reached  his 
shores.  The  Cabiri  also,  according  to  Sanchoniatho,  have 
recorded  that  Atlas  was  buried  alive  by  his  brothers,  a  story 
alluding,  perhaps,  to  that  sudden  submersion  so  minutely  de 
scribed  by  Plato. 

It  has  been  maintained,  and  with  much  learning  and  inge 
nuity,  that  the  peak  of  Teneriffe  was  the  original  Mount  Atlas, 
and  that  the  Greeks,  inferior  to  the  Phenicians  in  maritime 
skill,  probably  never  saw  the  Canaries,  and  in  their  ignorance, 
sought  for  Mount  Atlas  on  the  western  coast  of  Africa.  This 
error,  if  it  be  one,  is  as  remote  as  Herodotus,  and  was  adopted 
by  Strabo  and  Ptolemy,  who  in  their  turn  transmitted  it  to  the 
modern  world.  That  the  Canary  islands  were  inhabited  at  a 
very  early  period,  appears  from  the  testimony  of  Pliny,  who 
states  that  vestiges  of  an  ancient  population  still  existed  there 
in  the  ruins  of  edifices.  The  well  known  facility  with  which 
names  were  transferred,  in  ancient  geography,  from  one  country 
to  another,  in  consequence  of  the  migration  of  its  inhabitants, 
may  perhaps  authorize  the  supposition  that  after  the  disappear 
ance  of  the  Atlantic  island,  its  name  was  appropriated  or  con 
fined  to  those  islands  nearer  the  shores  of  Europe,  and  thence 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  219 

was  carried  into  Africa  by  subsequent  emigration.  The  Gu- 
anches,  the  aboriginal  population  of  the  Canaries,  in  their  cus 
toms,  the  habit  of  embalming  the  dead,  and  their  language, 
exhibit  striking  affinities  to  some  nations  of  Africa.  Herodotus 
describes  the  Atlantes,  a  nation  living  in  the  vicinity  of  Mount 
Atlas,  and  the  Berbers,  their  modern  descendants,  are  strongly 
distinguished  from  the  surrounding  tribes,  by  their  physical  ap 
pearance,  reddish  complexion,  and  language  analogous  to  that 
of  the  Guanches.* 

It  may  be  conjectured  then,  that  the  traditions  narrated  in 
Plato,  were  obtained  from  these  islands,  or  perhaps  from  the 
tribes  in  Africa  we  have  alluded  to,  and  thus  communicated  to 
the  Egyptians  and  Greeks,  and  incorporated  in  their  mythol 
ogy  ;  an  opinion  which  the  following  quotation  from  Proclus 
seems  to  favor.  In  his  commentaryf  upon  the  passage  cited 
from  Plato,  he  says,  "  That  such,  and  so  great  an  island,  form- 

*  Pritchard's  Eastern  Origin  of  the  Celtic  Nations,  p.  190.  That 
a  migration  from  the  west  to  the  east,  at  so  early  a  period,  is  not  im 
probable,  cannot  be  better  illustrated  than  by  the  following  passage  : 
"Among  the  strange  nations  with  which  Ulysses  became  acquainted 
in  his  wanderings,  the  Phseacians  deserve  a  moment's  attention.  It 
appears  that  they  were  much  more  refined  and  industrious  than  the 
Greeks,  that  they  were  better  informed  in  the  arts,  more  skilful  navi 
gators,  and  were  addicted  to  commerce.  They  inhabited  the  island 
of  Scheria,  supposed  to  be  the  same  as  Corcyra,  having  been  forced 
to  leave  their  former  abode  in  Hyperia,  from  the  troublesome  neigh 
borhood  of  the  Cyclops.  This  mention  of  a  retrograde  movement  from 
west  to  east,  and  of  a  people  more  cultivated  than  the  Greeks,  is 
extremely  remarkable  at  so  early  an  age. — Coolers  Hist.  Mar.  and 
Inland  Dis.^  vol.  i.  p.  17. 

f  Proclus,  in  Timosus,  Cory's  Fragments,  p.  233. 


220  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

erly  existed,  is  recorded  by  some  of  the  historians,  who  have 
treated  of  the  concerns  of  the  outward  sea.  For  they  say  that 
in  their  times,  there  were  seven  islands,  situated  in  that  sea, 
which  were  sacred  to  Persephone,  and  three  others  of  an  im 
mense  magnitude,  one  of  which  was  consecrated  to  Pluto, 
another  to  Ammon,  and  that  which  was  situated  between  them 
to  Poseidon ;  the  size  of  this  last  was  no  less  than  a  thousand 
stadia.  The  inhabitants  of  this  island  preserved  a  tradition, 
handed  down  from  their  ancestors,  concerning  the  existence  of 
the  Atlantic  island,  of  a  prodigious  magnitude,  which  had  really 
existed  in  those  seas  ;  and  which  during  a  long  period  of  time 
governed  all  the  islands  in  the  Atlantic  ocean.  Such  is  the 
relation  of  Marcellus  in  his  Ethiopian  history."*  This  cele 
brated  legend  has  been  variously  interpreted,  and  some  of  the 
later  authors  gave  it  an  allegorical  meaning.  But  this  opinion 
can  scarcely  be  supported,  for  Plato  seems  to  have  implicit  belief 
in  the  facts  he  narrates,  and  records  them  as  matter  of  history. 
It  appears  also  that  this  philosopher  conceived  the  extent  of 
the  earth  to  be  much  greater  than  was  usually  received  at  that 
period,  and  that  the  latter  Platonists  were  convinced  that  the 
earth  contained  two  quarters,  in  an  opposite  direction  to  Europe 
and  Asia.f  The  traditions  in  relation  to  Atlas  present  another 
curious  fact,  which  would  indicate  some  connection  in  the  an 
cient  mythology  between  the  story  of  Atlantis,  and  the  former 

*  According  to  the  Hindoos,  the  earth  was  divided  by  Prigauratta 
into  seven  Dwipas  or  islands ;  he  at  first  intended  to  share  his  do 
minions  among  his  ten  sons,  but  three  of  these  retired  from  the  world. 
Afterwards  all  the  Dwipas,  but  one,  were  destroyed  by  a  deluge.— 
Coolers  Mar.  Hist.,  vol.  i.  p.  149. 

f  Taylor's  Plato,  vol.  ii.  p.  434. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  221 

existence  of  greater  skill  in  the  art  of  navigation ;  for  it  seems 
to  be  justly  concluded,  that  Atlas  was  a  personification  of  navi 
gation,  or  as  described  by  Homer,  "  one  who  knows  all  the 
depths  of  the  sea."* 

In  any  event,  after  a  fair  and  impartial  examination  of  all 
these  circumstances,  it  seems  extremely  difficult  to  regard  the 
account  of  Plato  as  a  fabrication.  Its  accordance  with  the 
ancient  mythology,  and  with  facts  now  well  ascertained,  and 
its  allusion  to  a  western  "  continent,"  unknown  at  that  period, 
oppose  such  a  presumption.  If  it  was  the  creation  of  Grecian 
or  Egyptian  imagination,  surely  fancy  never  formed  a  truer 
fiction,  nor  modern  discovery  disclosed  a  more  striking  coinci 
dence.  But,  yielding  all  the  credit  to  these  traditions  to  which 
they  may  be  entitled,  it  is  yet  a  question  whether  they  referred 
to  islands  still  existent  in  the  Atlantic  ocean,  as  the  Azores, 
and  the  West  Indian  archipelago,  or  to  land  now  submerged ; 
as  it  is  possible  that,  in  a  fertile  mythology,  and  in  the  absence 
of  any  more  accurate  means  of  explanation,  their  disappearance 
may  have  been  attributed  to  earthquakes  and  other  natural 
convulsions,  rather  than  to  the  more  probable  cause, — the  loss 
of  the  means  of  communication  arising  from  a  decline  in  mari 
time  skill.  Whatever  be  the  decision  upon  this  point,  it  will 
be  perceived  that  if  these  accounts  are  to  be  relied  upon,  as 
historical  evidence,  they  afford  no  proof  of  a  former  land  con 
nection  between  Europe  and  America,  Atlantis  being  invariably 
described,  as  an  island  in  the  ocean  that  rolled  between  the  two 
continents. 

It  remains  to  inquire  what  evidence  exists  of  a  similar  con- 

*  Anthem's  Class.  Die.,  Atlas. 


222  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

nection  with  Asia.  It  has  been  supposed,  that  a  vast  tract  of 
land,  now  submerged  beneath  the  waters  of  the  Pacific  ocean, 
once  connected  Asia  and  America,  and  formed  a  passage-way 
for  the  migration  of  men  and  animals  to  this  continent.  The 
arguments  in  favor  of  this  opinion  are  predicated  upon  that 
portion  of  the  Scriptures,  relating  to  the  "  division"  of  the  earth 
in  the  days  of  Peleg,  which  is  thought  to  indicate  a  physical 
division, — upon  the  analogies  between  the  Peruvians,  Mexicans 
and  Polynesians,  which  latter  are  conjectured  to  have  been 
saved,  by  a  flight  to  the  summits  of  the  mountains,  now  forming 
the  islands  they  occupy, — and  upon  the  difficulty  of  accounting 
in  any  other  manner  for  the  presence  of  some  kinds  of  animals 
in  America.  That  part  of  the  Genesis  referred  to,  states  that 
one  of  the  sons  of  Eber  was  named  Peleg,  for  in  his  days  "was 
the  earth  divided."  In  the  sixth  verse  of  the  same  chapter, 
however,  in  speaking  of  the  descendants  of  Japheth,  it  is  said, 
"By  these  were  the  isles  of  the  Gentiles  divided,  in  their  lands;" 
and  in  the  seventh  succeeding  verse,  "  These  are  the  families  of 
the  sons  of  Noah,  after  their  generations, — in  their  nations, — • 
and  by  these  were  the  nations  divided  in  the  earth,  after  the 
flood."  Is  it  to  be  determined,  then,  that  a  great  convulsion, 
overwhelming  multitudes  of  the  human  race,  destroying  nearly 
one-half  of  the  habitable  globe,  ten  thousand  miles  in  extent, 
and  producing  the  most  important  revolutions  in  the  aspect, 
condition  and  climate  of  the  earth,  was  thus  incidentally  alluded 
to,  under  the  simple  expression,  "  the  earth  was  divided ;"  or 
rather,  was  not  reference  made  to  a  political  or  social  division, 
as  described  in  preceding  and  subsequent  verses,  between  the 
families  of  the  sons  of  Noah,  their  generations  and  nations  1 
That  remarkable  analogies  are  to  be  observed  between  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  223 

Mexicans,  Peruvians,  and  Polynesians,  is  unquestionable ;  but 
this,  in  itself,  argues  nothing  in  favor  of  a  land  connection. 
Besides,  if  these  resemblances  are  referrible  to  such  a  commu 
nication,  why  is  it  that  similar  coincidences  do  not  exist  in 
zoology,  and  that  none  of  the  larger  animals,  either  of  Asia  or 
America,  have  been  discovered  in  these  islands,  save  such 
domesticated  ones,  as  may  easily  have  been  carried  in  the 
rudest  kind  of  vessels  ?  and  why  is  it,  in  particular,  that  the 
domestic  animals,  which  are  distributed  over  most  of  these 
islands,  were  not  found  in  the  new  world  1  The  reply  is  mani 
fest  :  because  this  conjectured  terrestrial  communication  never 
existed,  a  conclusion  substantiated,  in  some  measure,  by  geolo 
gical  testimony.  Instead  of  being  those  portions  of  the  deluged 
territory,  which  from  their  height  have  escaped  submersion, 
there  are  no  islands,  yet  examined,  in  Eastern  Oceanica,  but 
such  as  consist  either  of  volcanic  rocks,  or  coralline  limestone, 
bearing  marks  of  having  been  upheaved  from  the  bosom  of 
the  ocean,  by  successive  volcanic  eruptions, — or  as  have  been 
formed  upon  the  crests  of  sub-marine  volcanoes,  that  have  even 
the  rims  and  bottoms  of  their  craters  overgrown  with  coral. 
This  is  the  case  even  with  the  largest  islands,  where  coral  reefs 
are  sometimes  found  on  the  volcanic  soil,  reaching  from  the 
sea-shore  far  into  the  interior.  And  upon  the  summit  of  nearly 
the  highest  mountain  in  Tahiti  or  Otaheite,  an  island  composed 
almost  entirely  of  volcanic  rocks,  at  an  elevation  of  twelve 
thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  there  is  a  distinct 
stratum  of  fossil  coral,  showing  that  a  great  part,  if  not  the 
whole  of  the  island  has  been  raised  from  the  level  of  the  ocean, 
and  has  not  been  formed  by  supra-marine  eruptions.  Instead 
of  evincing  any  evidences,  indeed,  of  the  submersion  of  a  large 


224  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

tract  of  land,  joining  America  and  Asia,  the  proofs  are  directly 
dissentient,  and  geological  examination  shows,  that  the  Pacific 
has  been  a  vast  theatre  of  igneous  action,  and  that  its  immense 
archipelagos,  instead  of  being  surrounded,  before  the  time  of 
their  insular  formation,  by  land,  are  all  composed  of  coral 
limestones  or  volcanic  rocks  upraised  from  the  sea.* 

But  notwithstanding  these  facts  in  the  physical  geography 
of  the  Oceanic  islands,  it  is  still  insisted,  that  this  theory  affords 
the  only  method  of  accounting  for  the  migration  of  animals  to 
this  continent.  This  position  admits  of  several  answers.  1st. 
If  the  hypothesis  be  conceded  as  well  founded,  there  are  difficul 
ties  to  encounter  in  the  remarkable  difference  which  exists,  be 
tween  the  zoology  of  Asia  and  America.  Had  so  easy  a  com 
munication  ever  existed,  it  is  obvious  that  the  animal  kingdom 
of  this  continent  should  correspond  in  a  great  degree  with  that 
of  the  other,  whereas  on  the  contrary,  there  is  the  widest  dis 
crepancy  between  them.  Besides  wanting  some  of  the  domes 
tic  and  other  animals  of  the  Pacific  islands,  we  have  not  the 
horse,  the  cow,  the  camel,  the  dromedary,  elephant,  lion,  rhi 
noceros,  camelopard,  hippopotamus,  the  tiger,  and  other  mam 
malia  of  the  eastern  hemisphere,  while  at  the  same  time  the 
American  sloth,  paca,  coati,  agouti,  couguar,  peccari,  and 
lama  are  all  unknown  in  Asia.  2d.  It  is  far  from  being  conceded, 
that  any  necessity  exists,  for  explaining  the  presence  of  animals 
in  America  in  the  way  proposed ;  for  while  there  is  plausibility 
in  the  opinion,  advanced  by  many  distinguished  naturalists,  that 
there  have  been  distinct  animal  creations,  simultaneously,  for 


*  Lyell's  Geology,  vol.  ii.  p.  174,  etc.     Tour  through  Hawaii,  by 
Rev.  W.  Ellis,  pp.  7,  9,  etc. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  225 

different  portions  of  the  earth — an  idea  in  nowise  opposed  by 
the  Scriptural  accounts  contained  in  the  Genesis ;  and  while 
many  learned  and  pious  men  have  maintained  that  the  Deluge 
was  partial,  and  of  no  greater  extent  than  was  necessary  to 
accomplish  its  great  end,  the  destruction  of  the  human  race ; 
there  are  decided  indications  of  the  former  existence  of  a 
warmer  climate  in  the  northern  regions  of  both  continents,  by 
which  the  main  objection  to  the  migration  of  our  tropical  ani 
mals  by  a  northern  route  is  removed.  By  natural,  or  as  they 
are  sometimes  unjustly  termed,  accidental  causes;  by  the  instinct 
of  some  animals  to  migrate ;  by  floods,  whereby  those  capable 
of  swimming  have  been  carried  vast  distances;  by  sudden  scar 
city  of  food,  inroads  of  more  powerful  genera,  or  changes  in 
local  climate; — by  the  drifting  of  ice-floes,  and  of  those  float 
ing  islands,  which  covered  with  trees  and  animals  have  been 
met  at  sea ;  and  by  the  direct  interposition  of  man, — the  distri 
bution  of  the  brute  creation  over  regions  far  more  widely  sepa 
rated  than  the  opposite  shores  of  Behring's  straits,  or  of  the 
Aleutian  islands  is  easily  demonstrated ;  and  at  the  same  time, 
such  partial  and  occasional  causes  may  explain  the  absence  of 
many  of  the  species  of  the  old  continent.  The  great  difficulty, 
however,  impeding  such  a  solution  of  this  problem  is  the  pre 
sent  inclement  climate  of  this  portion  of  the  earth,  too  severe, 
doubtless,  for  the  existence  of  those  tropical  animals,  which 
must  have  passed  by  this  route. 

Without  intending  by  additional  theories,  to  perplex  a  sub 
ject,  already  sufficiently,  and  perhaps  unnecessarily  embarrassed, 
by  this  zoological  question,  it  may  be  well  to  allude  to  the  evi 
dences  of  the  former  existence  of  a  higher  temperature  in  the 
temperate  and  Arctic  regions  than  they  now  enjoy.  Thus  in  Si- 

29 


226  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

cily,  Calabria,  France  and  England,  fossil  plants,  reptiles,  and  the 
remains  of  quadrupeds  have  been  discovered,  some  of  which 
from  their  form  and  structure  it  is  apparent  must  have  existed 
in  a  much  warmer  climate,  than  those  countries  possess  at  pre 
sent;  others  are  species  of  genera  analogous  to  those  now 
flourishing  in  warmer  districts,  and  others  are  exactly  and  spe 
cifically  identical  with  those  which  now  are  found  only  in  tro 
pical  climates.  In  the  superficial  deposits  of  Europe,  are  found 
the  remains  of  the  elephant,  rhinoceros,  tiger,  lion,  hippopota 
mus,  and  hyena,  animals  now  all  occupying  warmer  regions. 
In  northern  Siberia,  America,  and  even  upon  the  very  shores 
of  Behring's  straits,  the  bones  of  the  rhinoceros  and  mammoth 
have  been  discovered,*  while  the  remains  of  plants,  corals,  and 

*  The  bones  of  the  mammoth  are,  as  it  is  well  known,  widely 
spread  over  the  American  continent,  and  in  some  places  in  great 
profusion.  Cuvier  says  that  its  remains  are  in  a  better  state  of  pre 
servation  than  any  other  fossil  bones ;  and  there  are  some  curious 
facts  which  may  give  rise  to  the  conjecture,  that  its  extinction  is  more 
recent  than  has  been  supposed.  Charlevoix,  in  speaking  of  the 
Orignal  (elk),  narrates  an  Indian  tradition  of  "  a  great  Orignal,"  an 
enormous  animal,  whose  skin  was  proof  against  all  kinds  of  arms,  and 
that  he  had  "a  kind  of  arm  which  grew  out  of  his  shoulder." —  Voyage, 
vol.  i.  p.  88.  Dr.  James,  in  describing  the  various  forms  under  which 
the  Wahconda  is  supposed  to  appear  to  the  medicine-men  of  the 
Missouri  tribes,  observes  that  "  one  individual  attributed  to  an  ani 
mal  from  which  he  received  his  medicines,  the  form  and  features 
of  the  elephant.'" — Vol.  i.  p.  246.  Some  bodies  of  the  mammoth 
found  in  the  United  States,  have  been  well  preserved,  and  in  one 
case,  where  parts  of  the  flesh  and  stomach  were  still  existing,  within 
the  latter  the  remains  of  plants  now  known  in  Virginia  were  observed. 
—BdkeweWs  Geology,  p.  335.  It  is  Clavigero,  I  believe,  who  says 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  227 

madrepores,  upon  Melville  island,  seventy-five  degrees  north  lat 
itude,  are  of  such,  as  could  have  subsisted  only  in  the  heat  of 
the  tropics.  Innumerable  facts  of  this  character  have  induced 
geologists  to  conclude,  that  the  northern  hemisphere,  at  some 
distant  period  possessed  a  much  warmer  climate,  congenial  with 
the  physical  constitution  of  this  its  extinct  animal  and  vegeta 
ble  kingdom,  and  which  diminished  gradually,  even  after  the 
appearance  upon  the  earth  of  a  great  portion  of  the  existing 
species.  But  to  return  to  the  theory  under  discussion,  there  is 


that  a  tomb  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  upon  being  opened,  was  found  to 
contain  the  bones  of  an  entire  mammoth,  the  sepulchre  appearing  to 
have  been  formed  expressly  for  their  reception.  Mr.  Latrobe  relates, 
that  during  the  prosecution  of  some  excavations  near  the  city  of  Tez- 
cuco,  one  of  the  ancient  roads  or  causeways  was  discovered,  and  on 
one  side,  only  three  feet  below  the  surface,  in  what  may  have  been 
the  ditch  of  the  road,  there  lay  the  entire  skeleton  of  a  mastodon.  It 
bore  every  appearance  of  having  been,  coeval  with  the  period  when 
the  road  was  used,  and  he  suggests  that  these  animals  may  have 
been  the  beasts  of  burden  of  the  ancient  inhabitants. — Latrobe' sEamb. 
in  Mex.)  vol.  i.  p.  145.  The  tusks  of  the  mammoth,  or  of  an  animal 
whose  bones  are  often  found  accompanying  it,  in  this  country,  bear  a 
near  resemblance  to  the  tusk  of  the  elephant. —  Trans.  Am.  Phil.  Soc., 
vol.  iv.  pp.  512,  513.  It  has  been  thought  that  the  head  and  trunk  of 
the  elephant  have  been  represented  upon  the  Mexican  monuments, 
and  in  some  of  their  paintings, — particularly  in  the  Codex  Mexicanus 
at  Vienna.  Waldeck  says  that  they  are  to  be  seen  at  Palenque  and 
Uxmal,  and  remarks  that  in  the  figures  at  Uxmal,  the  trunk  is  longer 
than  that  of  the  tapir,  and  is  turned  upwards  in  the  air,  facts  which 
he  considers  as  showing  decisively  that  the  head  of  the  tapir  was  not 
intended,  for  that  animal  cannot  elevate  its  trunk. —  Voyage  Pitto- 
resque,  etc.,  pp.  74,  100. 


228  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

one  circumstance,  which,  as  respects  the  civilized  nations  of 
Mexico  and  Central  America,  seems  to  be  decisive  of  the  ques 
tion.  In  the  maps  of  the  migrations  of  these  nations,  the  first 
journey  is  generally  represented,  as  having  been  made  over 
some  body  of  water  ;  and  indeed  there  does  not  appear  to  be  a 
single  well  authenticated  tradition  among  any  aboriginal  tribes, 
civilized  or  barbarous,  of  a  passage  by  land,  while  many  have 
preserved  clear  accounts  of  a  prior  event,  the  great  deluge, 
which,  in  Mexico  and  Peru  at  least,  is  manifestly  the  same  as 
recorded  by  Moses. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  229 


CHAPTER    V. 

ANCIENT   NAVIGATION   AND   THE    DRIFTING  OF  VESSELS. 

THE  proofs  which  exist,  showing  that  our  continent  was 
peopled  at  a  very  early  age,  suggest  an  inquiry  as  to  the  mar 
itime  skill  of  the  ancients.  The  high  position  attained  by  many 
of  the  primitive  nations  in  various  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  and 
the  extent  to  which  commerce  was  prosecuted  in  very  remote 
ages,  render  it  improbable  that  the  conquest  of  the  ocean  was 
never  accomplished, — much  less,  that  it  was  never  attempted. 
Knowledge  is  not  partial  nor  contracted  in  its  influence ;  its 
impulses  are  sympathetic,  and  seek  development  in  whatever 
direction  the  curiosity,  the  interests,  or  the  enterprise  of  man 
affords  an  object.  It  would  have  been  an  anomaly,  indeed,  for 
the  sciences  of  geometry  and  astronomy  to  have  existed  in  so 
great  perfection,  without  being  applied  to  navigation.  Besides, 
there  are  passages  in  the  works  of  authors,  sacred  and  profane, 
which  it  is  contended  by  the  learned,  alluded  to  the  magnet. 
Thus  Plato  speaks  of  the  attractive  powers  of  the  Heraclian 
stone;  Sanchoniatho  says  that  Omanus  contrived  Bcetulian 
stones  that  moved  as  having  life ;  and  Homer,  in  lauding  the 
maritime  skill  of  the  Pheacians,  remarks  of  their  vessels,  that 
they  sped  to  distant  climes,  through  pathless  seas,  without  the 
aid  of  pilots,  and  though  "  wrapt  in  clouds  and  darkness."  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Maurice  observes,  that  the  magnet  is  referred  to  by 
the  most  ancient  classical  writers,  under  the  name  of  Lapis  He- 


230  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

raclius,  in  allusion  to  its  asserted  inventor,  Hercules,  and  that 
"  the  Chaldeans  and  Arabians  have  immemorially  made  use  of 
it,  to  guide  them  over  the  vast  deserts,  that  overspread  their  re 
spective  countries."*  M.  Klaproth  has  traced  the  communica 
tion  of  the  use  of  the  magnetic  needle  in  Europe,  to  the  Arabs 
in  the  time  of  the  crusades,  and  from  the  Arabs  to  the  Chinese. 
The  latter  nation  appears  to  have  been  acquainted  with  the  at 
tractive  power  of  the  loadstone  at  a  remote  date;  and  its  pro 
perty  of  communicating  polarity  to  iron  is  noticed  in  a  Chinese 
work  finished  A.  D.  121,  and  in  another  work  it  is  stated  that 
ships  were  steered  to  the  south  by  the  magnet  so  early  as  A.  D. 
429.f  It  is  hardly  possible  that  so  valuable  an  invention 
should  not  have  been  communicated  to  the  nations  with  which 
they  had  commercial  intercourse ;  and  it  is  singular  that  in  the 
very  quarter  from  which  America,  most  probably,  was  peopled, 
— Eastern  Asia, — this  instrument  should  have  been  known  and 
used,  in  ancient  ages. 

Independent,  however,  of  these  evidences  respecting  the 
knowledge  of  the  compass,  there  are  sufficient  historical  testi 
monies,  to  establish,  that  the  ancients  were  not  wholly  igno 
rant  of  the  art  of  navigation.  That  great  inland  sea,  the  Med 
iterranean,  was  traversed  at  an  early  period  by  the  people  living 
upon  its  borders,  who  not  only  achieved  much  in  naval  archi 
tecture,  but  performed  long  and  arduous  voyages.  It  has  been 
clearly  shown,  that  long  before  our  era,  the  Canaries,  Azores, 
the  British  islands,  and  probably  the  Baltic,  were  visited  by  the 
Carthagenians,  and  that  Africa  was  circumnavigated  by  the 

*  Maurice's  Ind,  Antiq.,  vol.  vi.  p.  191.  Hyde  de  Rel.  Vet.  Pers., 
p.  189,  cited  in  ibid. 

|  The  Chinese,  etc.,  by  John  F.  Davis,  vol.  ii.  p.  218. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  231 

Phenicians.*  The  Carthagenians,  before  the  age  of  Herodo 
tus,  traded  with  nations  beyond  the  straits  of  Gibraltar,  and  the 
Phenicians  in  the  days  of  Solomon  made  triennial  voyages  to 
Tarshish.f 

The  Phenecians  were  also  engaged  in  conducting  the  com 
merce  of  Egypt,  though  there  are  good  reasons  for  supposing, 
that  the  Egyptians  were  no  unskilful  mariners.  In  the  time 
of  Moses,  East  Indian  productions  were  imported  into  Egypt,J 
and  articles  indicating  a  commerce  with  India,  have  been  dis 
covered  in  Egyptian  tombs  of  the  Eighteenth  dynasty.§  Mr. 
Wilkinson  says,  that  it  is  highly  probable  that  the  port  of 
Philoteras,  on  the  Red  Sea,  was  already  founded  in  the  days  of 
Joseph,  and  that  the  canal  joining  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Nile, 
was  probably  built  B.  C.  1355 ;  and  hence  it  is  not  surprising 
that  the  aromatic  productions  of  the  Moluccas  should  have 
been  known  at  Rome  and  mentioned  by  Plautus  200  B.  C.||  In 
this  commerce,  the  Arabians,  who  were  "  the  first  navigators  of 
their  own  seas  and  the  first  carriers  of  Oriental  produce/'  were 
also  engaged,  before  the  Christian  era.  They  sailed  to  the  east 
ern  seas  in  large  vessels,  and  vessels  of  great  size  frequented 
their  ports  also  from  Indus,  Patalis,  Persis,  and  Caramania.H 
Nor  were  these  expeditions  always  undertaken  by  following 


*  Cooley,  vol.  ii.  p.  46.  f  I  Kings  10 :  22. 

I  Exodus  3 :  23. 

§  Wilkinson,  vol.  i.  p.  231.    Ibid.  vol.  i.  pp.  46,  69,  226. 

||  Cooley,  vol.  i.  p.  130. 

T[  Crichton's  Hist.  Arabia,  p.  137.  Heeren's  Res.,  vol.  iii.  p.  408. 
Agatharchides  in  Photius,  cited  in  Cooley,  vol.  i.  p.  128.  Also  Coo 
ley,  vol.  i.  p.  125. 


232  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

the  shore.     Vessels  often  sailed  out  from  sight  of  land,  trusting 
to  the  stars  for  guidance. 

Along  the  southern  and  eastern  shores  of  Asia,  a  region 
more  nearly  related  to  our  present  inquiry,  there  are  similar  in 
dications  of  early  maritime  skill.  It  now  appears  that  the  laws 
of  the  Hindoos  tacitly  allowed  commerce  by  sea.*  Arrian  men 
tions  five  different  kinds  of  vessels  among  the  Hindoos,  one  of 
which  consisted  of  ships  of  great  size.f  "  The  Hindoos  of  Ma 
lacca,"  says  Mr.  Crawford,  "  are  the  only  ultra-marine  colo 
nists  of  that  people  of  whom  I  have  heard.  The  popular  notion 
of  its  being  forbidden  to  Hindoos  to  quit  their  country  by  sea  is 
sufficiently  contradicted  by  their  existence ;  and  how,  indeed, 
without  supposing  such  emigration,  are  we,  in  common  sense, 
to  account  for  the  once  wide  spread  of  their  religion  among  the 
distant  islands  of  the  Indian  ocean  ?"J  The  Indian  commerce, 
however,  was  principally  in  the  hands  of  the  Arabians  and  Ma 
lays.  The  Malays  are  still  noted  in  the  east  for  their  enterprise, 
and  fondness  for  nautical  adventure,  and  if  the  opinion  be  cor 
rect  that  their  language  contains  a  decided  infusion  of  Sanscrit, 
Arabic,  and  Coptic  words,  no  surer  testimony  can  be  given  of 
their  ancient  attainments  in  navigation.  We  are  surprised  to 
find,  when  the  Portuguese  first  penetrated  into  the  Indian  ar 
chipelago,  mention  of  Malay  fleets,  which  in  point  of  numbers 
and  the  size  of  the  vessels,  indicate  great  maritime  Powers.  One 
of  these,  according  to  Mr.  Marsden,  numbered  ninety  vessels, 
twenty-five  of  them  large  galleys ;  another,  three  hundred  sail, 


*  Heeren's  Researches,  vol.  iii.  pp.  381,  401. 
f  Cited  in  Cooley,  vol.  i.  p.  129. 
|  Crawford,  vol.  i.  p.  59. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  233 

eighty  of  which  were  junks  of  four  hundred  tons  burden ;  and 
another  of  five  hundred  sail,  with  sixty  thousand  men.* 

If  .the  Japanese  maps  are  to  be  credited,  their  voyages  form 
erly  extended  to  Java,  and  on  the  north,  it  is  said,  to  Behring's 
straits,  and  to  the  American  coast,  which  they  called  Foosang. 
From  the  Chinese  charts,  Kamtschatka  appears  to  have  been 
known  to  that  nation,  in  the  seventh  century,  and  they  even 
claim  to  have  carried  on  a  trade  with  the  north-west  coast  of 
America,  and  with  California.!  Their  voyages  to  the  south 
were  long,  and  were  directed  by  charts ;  they  received  spices 
from  the  Moluccas  at  an  early  age,  and  at  one  period  probably 
extended  their  commercial  enterprises,  so  far  as  the  Persian 
gulf.  In  any  event  it  seems  certain  that  the  Chinese  coins 
were  circulated  in  Java,  and  among  all  the  nations  of  the  In 
dian  islands,  before  they  adopted  the  Mohammedan  religion,  or 
had  any  intercourse  with  Europeans.  J 

But  it  may  be  contended,  and  with  much  plausibility,  that 
there  exists  no  necessity  of  recurring  to  the  theories  respecting 
a  former  land  connection,  or  to  the  proof  of  the  maritime  enter 
prise  of  the  ancients, — for  colonies  may  easily  have  reached 
our  shores  by  the  accidental  drifting  of  canoes,  and  other  ves 
sels.  This  opinion  is  abundantly  supported  by  many  well  au 
thenticated  instances,  most  of  which  have  been  recorded  since 
this  subject  has  attracted  attention.  Diodorus  relates  that  a 
Greek  merchant,  trading  to  Arabia,  was  seized  by  the  Ethio 
pians,  and  having  been  placed  into  a  boat  and  turned  out  to 


Marsden's  Sumatra,  p.  424,  etc. 
Malte  Brun.     Barrow,  pp.  29,  30. 

Crawford's  Siam,  vol.  i.  p.  73.    Asiatic  Res.,  vol.  ix.  p.  40, 
30 


234  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

sea,  was  carried  by  the  winds  to  Taprobane  or  Ceylon.  In  the 
time  of  Eudoxus  of  Cyzicus,  B.  C.  146,  an  Indian  was  found  in 
a  boat  on  the  shores  of  the  Red  Sea,  who,  upon  learning  the 
Greek  language,  stated  that  he  had  sailed  from  India,  and  had 
been  driven  to  that  distance  by  the  wind.  Pliny  narrates  that 
in  the  days  of  Quintus  Metellus,  some  strange  and  savage  peo 
ple  were  driven  upon  the  German  coast,  and  sent  by  the  Suevi 
to  that  general.  The  discovery  of  America  by  the  Northmen 
was  accidental;  and  Iceland  was  discovered  A.  D.  862,  by 
some  mariners  who  were  bound  for  the  Feroe  islands,  but  were 
thrown  out  of  their  course  by  tempests.  In  1684,  several  Es 
quimaux,  driven  out  to  sea  in  their  canoes,  were  drifted,  after  a 
long  continuance  of  boisterous  weather,  upon  the  Orkneys.  It 
is  related  that  a  small  vessel,  destined  from  one  of  the  Canary 
islands  to  TenerifTe,  was  forced  out  of  her  way  by  contrary 
winds  to  within  a  short  distance  from  Caraccas,  where  meeting 
an  English  ship,  she  was  directed  to  one  of  the  South  American 
ports. 

In  1731  another  barque,  sailing  from  Teneriffe  to  one  of 
the  neighboring  isles,  drifted  from  her  course,  and  was  finally 
brought  to  at  Trinidad.  Cabral,  the  commander  of  a  Portuguese 
fleet,  sent  out  in  the  year  1500  to  the  East  Indies,  whilst  pro 
secuting  the  voyage,  departed  so  far  from  the  African  coast,  as 
to  encounter  the  western  continent ;  and  thus  the  discovery  of 
Brazil  was  entirely  accidental.  In  1745,  some  vessels  navigated 
by  the  natives  were  forced  out  to  sea  from  Kamtschatka,  to  one 
of  the  Aleutian  islands, — a  distance  of  several  hundred  miles. 
In  1789,  Captain  Bligh,  his  crew  having  mutinied  and  seized 
his  ship  whilst  in  the  Pacific  ocean,  was  placed  with  eighteen 
men  in  a  boat,  provided  only  with  a  small  quantity  of  provi- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  235 

sions.,  and  having  traversed  four  thousand  miles  in  forty-six 
days,  succeeded  finally,  in  landing  at  Tima  in  the  East  Indies. 
In  1797,  twelve  negroes,  escaping  from  an  African  slave 
ship  upon  that  coast,  took  to  a  boat,  and  after  five  weeks,  three 
of  the  number  who  had  survived,  were  drifted  ashore  at  Barba- 
does.  In  1799,  three  men  were  driven  out  to  sea  by  stress  of 
weather  from  St.  Helena,  in  a  small  boat,  and  two  of  them  reach 
ed  the  coast  of  South  America  in  a  month, — one  having  perish 
ed  on  the  voyage.  In  1820,  one  hundred  and  fifty  inhabitants  of 
Anaa  or  Chain  Island,  situated  three  hundred  miles  east  of  Ota- 
heite,  having  embarked  in  three  canoes,  encountered  the  mon 
soon.  Two  of  the  vessels  were  lost,  but  the  occupants  of  the 
third,  after  being  driven  from  island  to  island,  and  obtaining  a 
scanty  subsistence,  were  found  six  hundred  miles  from  their 
point  of  departure.  Three  natives  of  Otaheite,  have  been  met 
on  the  island  of  Wateo,  whither  they  had  drifted  in  a  canoe, 
over  five  hundred  miles. 

In  1782,  Captain  Inglefield  of  the  Centaur,  and  eleven  men, 
sailed  upon  the  Atlantic  ocean  three  hundred  leagues,  in  an 
open  pinnace,  without  compass,  chart,  or  sail,  and  were  ulti 
mately  landed  on  Fayal.  A  native  of  Ulea  has  been  found  on 
one  of  the  Coral  isles  of  Radack,  where  he  had  arrived  with 
two  companions,  after  a  long  and  boisterous  voyage  of  eight 
months,  during  which  period  they  had  been  driven  by  wind 
and  storms  to  the  amazing  distance  of  fifteen  hundred  miles. 
In  1686,  several  natives  of  the  Caroline  islands  were  carried  by 
the  winds  and  currents  to  the  Philippine  islands,  by  which  means 
that  group  first  became  known  to  the  Europeans.  The  Japan 
ese  are  often  accidentally  thrown  upon  the  Philippine  islands.* 

*  Page's  Travels,  p.  46. 


236  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

In  the  year  1542,  three  Portuguese  sailed  from  Siam  in  a  junk, 
and  were  driven  out  of  their  course  to  within  sight  of  Japan.* 
In  1833,  a  Japanese  junk  was  cast  away  on  the  American  coast 
at  Cape  Flattery,  and  of  seventeen  men  only  three  were  saved. 
In  the  same  year  eleven  of  the  same  nation  were  drifted  to  one 
of  the  Sandwich  islands.f 

In  1721,  thirty  men,  women  and  children  were  driven  by 
bad  weather  from  Farroiless  to  Guaham,  one  of  the  Marian  isles, 
a  space  of  two  hundred  miles ;  and  in  1696,  a  like  number 
were  carried  from  Ancorso  to  Tamar,  one  of  the  Philippines, 
about  eight  hundred  miles.  In  1821,  a  large  canoe  filled  with 
natives  arrived  at  the  island  of  Maurua,  from  Rurutu, — five  hun 
dred  miles,  in  a  direct  course."];  Subsequently  another  from 
Otaheite  reached  one  of  the  islands  near  Mangea,  six  hundred 
miles ;  two  reached  Otaheite  from  Hao,  of  the  existence  of  which 
place  the  Otaheitans  were  before  ignorant,  and  the  native 
missionaries  travelling  among  the  different  Pacific  insular  groups, 
are  continually  meeting  their  countrymen, — who  have  been 
driven  out  to  sea. 

Multitudes  of  these  occurrences  must  have  preceded  the 
progress  of  modern  discovery  in  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans, 
and  consequently  have  happened  without  leaving  any  record  or 
trace.  Accumulated  cases  of  this  kind,  should  be  taken  in 
connection  with  the  fact,  that  excepting  Spitzbergen  and  Nova 
Zembla,  to  the  north,  Falkland,  and  Kergueland's  land  to  the 
south,  whose  inhospitable  climes  forbid  permanent  habitation 
and  subsistence,  no  considerable  extent  of  land  has  been  found 

*  Hakluyt,  vol.  iv.  p.  48. 

t  Parker's  Exploring  Tour,  p.  152. 

%  Tour  through  Hawaii,  p.  442. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  237 

uninhabited,  and  that  with  the  exception  of  St.  Helena,  the 
smallest  islands  capable  of  supporting  a  population,  including 
nearly  all  the  numerous  islets  of  the  Pacific,  however  distant 
from  continents,  have  been  discovered  tenanted  by  human  be 
ings.*  Our  race  occupies  islands  and  continents  detached  from 
the  fountain-head  of  all  human  life,  and  pervades  nearly  every 
inhabitable  spot  upon  the  globe.  Thus  widely  has  the  earth 
been  peopled  in  the  early  periods  of  society — either  by  maritime 
nations,  or  by  barbarians  destitute  of  those  arts  of  civilization, 
and  that  perfection  in  science,  which  enable  men  to  intrust 
their  lives  and  property  without  danger  to  the  ocean,  and  to 
pursue  the  path  of  discovery  in  confident  security. 

It  is  impossible  to  attribute  this  extensive  distribution — this 
tide  of  population  flowing  from  island  to  island,  and  from  con 
tinent  to  continent, — entirely  to  the  maritime  abilities  of  former 
ages,  and  equally  impossible  in  many  cases  to  suppose  a  former 
land  connection,  as  a  means  of  solving  the  difficulty.  Experi 
ence  affords  the  only  clue  to  this  problem,  and  shows  that  by 
those  adventitious  causes,  which  have  been  always  in  action 
since  the  beginning,  man  has  found  his  way  wherever  his  Ma-, 
ker  had  prepared  him  an  abode ;  and  that,  in  the  language  of 
a  distinguished  scientific  author,  "  were  the  whole  of  mankind 
destroyed,  with  the  exception  of  one  family,  inhabiting  an  islet 
of  the  Pacific ;  their  descendants,  though  never  more  enlightened 
than  the  South  Sea  Islanders,  or  the  Esquimaux,  would  in  the 
course  of  ages  be  diffused  over  the  whole  earth."f 

*  Lyell's  Geology. 

t  In  speaking  of  the  fact,  that  the  appearance  of  certain  birds  at 
sea  indicates  approach  to  land,  Captain  Fitzroy  remarks  :  "  Until  I 
became  aware  of  these  facts,  the  discovery  of  the  almost  innumerable 


238  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THE   ORIGIN   OF    THE   ABORIGINES.       PHYSICAL    APPEARANCE. 

THE  discovery  of  America  disclosed  a  new  and  fascinating 
field  for  the  speculations  of  philosophers.  Attracted  by  the 
freshness  and  novelty  of  the  subjects  thus  afforded  for  disquisi 
tion,  a  bright  and  dazzling  array  of  learning  and  talent  was 
early  directed  to  the  important  problems  connected  with  its  nat 
ural  and  social  history,  and  especially,  to  the  solution  of  that  in 
teresting  question — the  origin  of  its  native  inhabitants.  At  that 
period,  however,  many  prerequisites  were  wanting  to  the  suc 
cessful  determination  of  this  inquiry,  which  have  been  supplied 
only  by  the  science,  the  enterprise  and  the  researches  which 
have  distinguished  the  recent  history  of  philosophy  and  know 
ledge.  Many  of  the  first  theories,  therefore,  were  remarkable 
only  for  boldness  and  improbability ;  for,  the  more  feeble  the 
light — the  more  dark  and  uncertain  the  truth — the  more  does 

islands  in  the  great  ocean  of  Magalhaens  (erroneously,  though  now 
probably  for  ever,  called  the  Pacific)  caused  great  perplexity  in  my 
mind.  That  Easter  Island,  for  instance,  such  a  speck  in  the  expanse 
and  so  far  from  other  land,  should  have  been  not  only  discovered,  but 
repeatedly  visited  and  successively  peopled  by  different  parties  of  the 
human  family,  seemed  extraordinary ;  but  now,  connecting  the  nu 
merous  accounts  related  by  voyagers,  of  canoes  driven  hundreds  of 
miles  away  from  their  desired  place,  with  these  facts  respecting  birds, 
much  of  the  mystery  seems  unravelled. —  Voyages,  vol.  ii.  p.  558. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  239 

human  ingenuity  struggle  to  fathom  the  mystery;  and  once 
launched  on  the  broad  sea  of  conjecture,  the  imagination  too 
often  triumphs  over  the  reason.  Another  fatal  defect  which 
lay  at  the  very  root  of  other  hypotheses,  was  the  predisposition 
of  their  authors  for  some  particular  opinion,  for  whose  support 
their  perception  was  quick  and  keen  in  the  detection  of  every 
circumstance  that  might  be  turned  in  its  favor.  Surely  there 
are  few  propositions  which  may  not  be  plausibly  supported,  by 
an  ingenious  and  skilful  combination  of  facts,  carefully  and 
adroitly  selected  with  direct  reference  to  a  desired  conclusion. 
"  Facts,"  says  Coleridge, "  are  not  stubborn,  but  pliant  things, — 
they  are  not  truths,  they  are  not  conclusions,  they  are  not  even 
premises, — the  truth  depends  on,  and  is  only  arrived  at  by,  a 
legitimate  deduction  from  all  the  facts  which  are  really  mate 
rial."  A  bare  recital  of  the  nations  which  have  been  supposed, 
by  various  authors,  to  have  peopled  America,  will  abundantly 
indicate  upon  what  insufficient  data  the  solution  of  so  great  a 
problem  has  been  ventured;  they  are  the  Atlantides,  the  Phe- 
nicians,  and  the  Carthagenians,  the  Hebrews,  Egyptians,  Hin 
doos,  Chinese,  Tartars,  Malays,  Polynesians,  the  Northmen, 
and  the  Welsh ;  whilst  some  have  gone  a  step  further  and  con 
sidered  America  as  the  most  ancient  of  the  continents,  and  the 
Indians  as  the  real  aborigines  of  the  soil. 

If  the  Carthagenians  are  to  be  believed,  they  knew  of  no 
continent  stretching  beyond  the  great  western  ocean.*  As  re 
spects  the  Egyptians,  Hindoos,  Chinese,  Malays,  Polynesians, 
and  Tartars,  the  evidences  deserve  more  minute  consideration. 
The  discovery  of  America  by  the  Northmen,  which  has  been  so 

*  Festus  Avienus,  v.,380. 


240  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

triumphantly  vindicated  and  proved,  besides  being  too  recent 
to  account  for  our  aboriginal  population,  establishes,  by  its  own 
narratives,  the  prior  existence  of  a  native  race.  The  authen 
ticity  of  the  account  of  the  Welsh  voyages,  at  the  close  of  the 
twelfth  century,  seems  also  to  be  confirmed ;  but  the  attempt  to 
trace  some  remnants  of  that  nation,  with  which  the  moderate 
and  intelligent  advocates  of  the  theory  have  long  been  con 
tented,  has  proved  unsuccessful.  It  appears  now  to  be  well 
settled,  that  so  far  as  the  Indian  dialects  are  concerned,  there 
exists  no  evidence  of  the  descent  of  any  of  the  tribes  from  those 
colonists.*  The  Hebrew  theory  has  been  more  strenuously 
maintained,  and  the  arguments  in  its  favor  have  been  displayed 
with  great  ability  and  learning.  It  may  be  observed,  that  most 
of  the  points  of  resemblance  which  have  been  discovered  be 
tween  the  rites  and  institutions  of  that  people  and  the  Indians, 
may  be  traced  also  in  those  of  several  other  nations,  and  are 
indicative  only  of  an  ancient  and  primitive  origin.  But  the  ob 
jections  have  been  overlooked;  the  Jews,  though  scattered 
through  every  region  and  climate,  ever  remain  a  peculiar  peo 
ple,  needing  no  argument  to  prove  their  lineage.  In  considera 
tion  of  their  national  character,  it  is  absolutely  impossible  to 
suppose  that  a  race  adhering  so  tenaciously  to  their  ancient  in 
stitutions  and  customs,  after  wandering  into  the  new  world 
should  have  lost  every  memorial  of  their  history,  laws,  and  re 
ligion.  Moreover,  the  physical  types  of  the  two  races  are 
essentially  different,  and  we  know  of  no  effect  of  climate,  by 
which  the  Hebrew  could  have  been  transformed  into  the  red 
and  beardless  American.  If  any  thing  were  wanting,  however, 

*  Arch.  Am.,  vol.  ii.  p.  125. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  241 

to  set  this  notion  at  rest,  it  is  probably  afforded  in  the  discov 
ery,  recently  announced  to  the  world,  of  the  remains  of  those 
lost  tribes,  who  were  supposed  to  have  reached  our  continent, 
still  existing  in  Asia. 

From  the  examination  of  all  these  hypotheses,  experience 
teaches  the  future  inquirer  one  lesson — not  to  institute  a  nar 
row  and  restricted  comparison  with  some  particular  nation,  but 
to  extend  it  to  all  of  the  primitive  and  ancient  people  of  the 
old  world.  It  should  be  remembered,  also,  that  all  reasoning 
upon  such  questions  is  moral  and  not  demonstrative,  and  that 
we  can  only  decide  between  different  theories,  according  to  their 
degrees  of  probability.  And  in  determining  the  order  of  inves 
tigation,  those  resemblances  which  may  have  originated  from 
the  same  natural  causes,  and  which  usually  characterize  a  par 
ticular  stage  of  society,  deserve  the  slightest  consideration,  as 
evidences  of  the  lowest  rank,  while  those  which  cannot  be 
traced  to  such  sources,  which  are  manifestly  of  exotic  origin, 
or  seem  to  be  arbitrary,  are  entitled  to  the  greatest  weight. 
Proceeding  upon  this  basis,  it  appears  just,  to  trace  the  relation 
ship  of  nations  by  analogies  in  physical  appearance,  language, 
arts,  sciences,  religion,  customs,  civil  institutions,  and  tradi 
tions. 

Physical  appearance.  In  the  discussion  as  to  the  causes  of 
that  physical  diversity  which  exists  between  various  portions 
of  the  human  race,  physiologists  have  raised  three  prominent 
questions.  1st.  Are  all  mankind  descendants  of  the  same  human 
family  ?  2d.  Have  the  varieties,  which  are  observable,  been 
occasioned  by  the  operation  of  external  circumstances  upon  a 
conformation  and  appearance  originally  the  same ;  or  by  a  ten 
dency  to  produce  offspring  with  physical  characters  different 

31 


242  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

from  those  of  the  parents  ?  3d.  What  is  the  number  of  races 
originally  distinct  from  each  other  ?  A  brief  review  of  the  ar 
guments  upon  these  topics,  is  essential  to  the  consideration  of 
the  most  important  link  in  the  chain  of  evidence,  connecting 
the  aborigines  with  certain  nations  of  the  eastern  continent. 

The  first  proposition,  by  the  voice  of  history  and  the  con 
current  testimony  of  the  most  intelligent  naturalists,  has  been 
determined  in  the  affirmative.  As  to  the  first  branch  of  the 
second  proposition,  few  questions  have  been  discussed  with 
more  research  and  ability.  The  force  of  the  arguments,  ad 
vanced  by  those  who  advocate  this  opinion,  may  be  tested  by 
reference  to  the  proofs  which  have  been  adduced,  to  show  that 
the  color  of  the  skin  is  altered  by  the  influence  of  the  solar 
rays.  This,  it  is  held,  is  observable  in  the  darkening  of  the 
skin  of  the  face,  and  of  those  portions  of  the  body  which  are 
most  usually  exposed.  Analogical  testimony  is  offered,  in  the 
blanching  of  vegetables  when  the  rays  of  the  sun  are  excluded, 
the  prevalence  of  light  colors  among  polar  animals,  and  in  the 
change  of  the  color  of  some  animals,  during  the  winter  season. 
It  is  extremely  questionable,  however,  whether  these  facts  in 
comparative  physiology  are  entitled  to  much  weight,  in  the 
solution  of  this  problem.  For  the  variations  in  the  color  and 
texture  of  the  coverings  of  the  goat,  the  hare,  and  the  reindeer, 
attending  the  change  of  the  seasons,  appear  to  be  connected 
with  the  process  of  molting,  and  to  depend  upon  a  specific  con 
stitutional  peculiarity;  while  the  human  hair  is  permanent, 
yielding  only  to  age  and  disease.  This  method  of  accounting 
for  the  existence  of  the  varieties  in  the  human  race,  though 
supported  by  the  authority  of  such  distinguished  philosophers 
as  Blumenbach,  Buffon,  Zimmerman,  and  others,  has  however 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  243 

been  ably  and  successfully  combated,  it  is  thought,  by  Dr. 
Lawrence  and  Dr.  Pritchard,  who  have  proved  that  the  effects 
of  climate  and  other  external  circumstances  are  not  transmitted 
by  generation.  The  former  remarks,  that  "  certain  external 
circumstances,  as  food,  climate,  mode  of  life,  have  the  power  of 
modifying  the  animal  organization,  so  as  to  make  it  deviate 
from  that  of  the  parent.  But  this  effect  terminates  in  the  indi 
vidual.  Thus,  a  fair  Englishman,  if  exposed  to  the  sun,  be 
comes  dark  and  swarthy  in  Bengal ;  but  his  offspring,  if  from 
an  Englishwoman,  are  born  just  as  fair  as  he  himself  was  origi 
nally  ;  and  the  children,  after  any  number  of  generations  that 
we  have  yet  observed,  are  still  born  equally  fair,  provided  there 
has  been  no  intermixture  of  dark  blood."*  Dr.  Pritchard  ob 
serves,  in  his  observations  upon  this  subject,  that  "nothing 
seems  to  hold  true  more  generally,  than  that  all  acquired  con 
ditions  of  body,  whether  produced  by  art  or  accident,  end  with 
the  life  of  the  individual  in  whom  they  are  produced."  It  will 
be  perceived,  that  the  solution  of  this  question  rests  mainly  upon 
two  facts  :  1st,  whether,  in  the  distribution  of  the  races  there  is 
any  relation  to  climate ;  and,  2d,  whether  there  are  any  his 
torical  proofs  of  an  alteration  of  complexion  produced  by  a 
change  of  location.  One  of  the  learned  authors  above  cited 
has  perhaps  succeeded  in  rendering  it  highly  probable,  that  the 
physical  characters  of  the  African  nations  display  themselves 
under  a  relation  to  climate.!  But  the  force  of  this  argument 
is  broken,  upon  examining  into  the  climatic  situation  of  the 
races  in  the  other  continents.  In  Europe,  where  a  gradual  in- 

*  Lawrence's  Lectures  on  Man,  p.  62. 

t  Physical  Res.,  vol.  ii.  p.  331.     See  Lawrence,  p.  344,  where  this 
is  controverted. 


244  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

crease  in  the  darkness  of  the  complexion  is  endeavored  to  be 
traced  as  we  proceed  southwardly,  we  still  find  the  original  dis 
tinctive  characteristics  of  different  races,  retaining  a  perma 
nence  in  various  regions,  whither  they  have  migrated,  notwith 
standing  the  change  in  locality,  and  the  lapse  of  time.  The 
Laplanders,  though  far  to  the  north,  are  darker  than  the  Ger 
mans,  and  betray  a  Mongolian  origin  in  their  swarthy  color. 
The  nations  of  German  origin,  in  Great  Britain,  are  still  con 
trasted  with  those  of  Celtic  descent;  and  the  Normans  of 
France  preserve  marks  of  their  foreign  origin,  in  their  aspect 
and  features.  In  Asia  we  find  copper-colored  nations  in  the 
northern  parts  of  Siberia,  where  they  have  existed  beyond  his 
torical  memory.  In  India,  while  some  of  the  inhabitants  have 
a  light  transparent  brown  complexion,  other  tribes,  occupying 
mountainous  countries,  are  characterized  by  a  dark  hue  ap 
proaching  to  black.*  Under  the  full  fervor  of  a  tropical  sun, 
a  fair  complexion  may  be  perceived  among  the  Sumatrans,f 
"  an  irrefragable  proof,"  says  Mr.  Marsden,  "  that  the  difference 
of  color,  in  the  different  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  is  not  the  im 
mediate  effect  of  climate."J  In  the  islands  of  the  Indian  and 

*  Heber's  Narrative,  vol.  ii.  pp.  466,  179, 188.  Asiatic  Researches, 
vol.  vii.  p.  153. 

f  Mr.  Marsden,  in  his  History  of  Sumatra,  remarks,  "  The  chil 
dren  of  Europeans,  born  in  this  island,  are  as  fair  as  those  born  in  the 
country  of  their  parents.  I  have  observed  the  same  of  the  second 
generation,  when  a  mixture  with  the  people  of  the  country  has  been 
avoided.  On  the  other  hand,  the  offspring  and  all  the  descendants 
of  the  Guinea  and  other  African  slaves  imported  there,  continue,  in 
the  last  instance,  as  perfectly  black  as  in  the  original  stock." — Mars 
den,  p.  46. 

I  Marsden,  p.  46. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  245 

Pacific  oceans,  not  only  is  the  same  fact  observable,  but  there 
are  appearances  of  a  race  approaching  the  Negro,  and  wholly 
distinct  from  the  tribes  of  lighter  hue,  and  occupying  extreme 
regions  under  the  forty-fifth  degree  of  south  latitude.  The  black 
races  who  have  been  considered  the  aborigines,  have  occupied 
the  middle  anfl  mountainous  parts  of  many  islands,  leaving  the 
coasts  and  plains  to  the  fairer  race.  In  America,  where  more 
than  in  any  other  portion  of  the  globe,  a  satisfactory  solution 
of  this  question  might  be  anticipated,  in  consequence  of  the  iso 
lated  situation  of  the  continent,  and  the  consequent  escape  from 
intermarriage  with  the  other  races,  the  facts  are  still  more  de 
cisive.  All  the  Americans  are  generally  distinguished  by  the 
same  prominent  physical  peculiarities.  In  a  country  stretching 
from  the  Arctic  regions  to  the  fifty-fifth  degree  of  south  latitude, 
this  uniformity  is  exceedingly  remarkable.  The  differences  of 
complexion  that  do  exist,  are  opposed  to  the  opinion  that  the 
scale  of  complexion  is  graduated,  according  to  the  distance 
from  the  equatorial  regions.  Thus  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Esquimaux  there  are  tribes  of  a  deep  copper*  color,  while  the 
fairest  hues  of  the  skin  are  found  in  the  tropical  countries  of 
South  America  ;f  and  at  the  remotest  ^extremity  of  the  conti 
nent,  the  copper  complexion  again  characterizes  the  Fue- 
gians.J  "  The  Indians  of  New  Spain,"  says  Humboldt,  "  have 
a  more  swarthy  complexion  than  the  inhabitants  of  the  wann 
est  climates  of  South  America."  *  *  "  We  found  the  peo 
ple  of  the  Rio  Negro,  swarthier  than  those  of  the  lower  Ori 
noco,  and  yet  the  banks  of  the  first  of  these  rivers  enjoy  a  much 

*  Hearne.     Hum.  Pol.  Essay,  vol.  i.  p.  109. 

f  Hum.  Pers.  Nar.,  vol.  v.  p.  565.  etc.        J  King  and  Fitzroy. 


246  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE   ORIGIN  AND 

cooler  climate,  than  the  more  northern  regions."  *  *  "  We 
everywhere  perceive  that  the  color  of  the  American  depends 
very  little  on  the  local  position,  in  which  we  see  him."* 

It  remains  to  inquire  whether  there  are  any  historical  proofs 
of  the  transmutation  of  the  physical  appearance  of  one  race  into 
that  of  another,  by  a  change  of  location.  A  difficulty  imme 
diately  arises,  as  to  the  nature  of  the  proof  usually  adduced  on 
this  point.  It  is  manifest  that  no  accurate  and  reliable  conclu 
sion  can  be  drawn,  unless  it  is  clearly  shown  that  the  change 
has  not  been  produced  by  intermarriage, — a  negative  almost 
impossible  to  prove,  unless  supported  by  immediate  and  contin 
ued  observation.  Thus,  historical  testimony  of  the  migration 
of  any  people,  should  be  accompanied  with  clear  evidence,  that 
they  have  not  intermingled  with  the  native  race.  On  the  other 
hand,  ethnographical  proof  alone  is  almost  equally  inconclu 
sive.  Similarity  of  language  is  not  sufficient  to  indicate  the 
common  origin  of  nations,  for  by  conquest  and  other  causes, 
native  languages  have  sometimes  been  adopted  by  the  conquer 
ors,  and  at  others  been  eradicated  and  supplanted.  In  accord 
ance  with  these  views,  it  is  apparent  that  the  instance  of  the 
black  Jews,  stated  by  Dldendorp  to  exist  in  Congo,  is  of  little 
force,  for  it  is  impossible  to  show  that  their  original  physical 
character  has  been  altered  by  climate,  and  not  by  intermarriage 
with  the  aboriginal  tribes.  The  latter  appears  clearly  to  have 
been  the  case  with  some  of  the  Jews  discovered  by  Dr.  Buchanan, 
on  the  coast  of  Malabar,  and  who  had  occupied  that  country 
for  more  than  fifteen  hundred  years.  Those  of  pure  blood  are 
called  white  Jews,  while  those  who  have  intermarried  with  the 
Hindoos,  are  termed  black  Jews.  The  same  remark  applies  to 

*  Pol.  Essay,  vol.  i.  p.  109. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  247 

the  descendants  of  those  Arab  tribes  in  Egypt  and  Nubia,  some 
of  which  migrated  to  that  country  eleven  or  twelve  centuries 
since.*  The  change  of  color  among  various  portions  of  them 
is  undoubted,  but  that  it  has  been  occasioned  by  climate,  is  far 
from  being  established,  particularly  as  the  occasional  instances 
of  black  individuals  among  tribes  of  an  olive  complexion  indi 
cate  that  very  intermixture,  which  it  has  been  endeavored  to 
disprove.  Indeed  it  is  conceded  by  Dr.  Pritchard,  "  that  there 
are  no  authenticated  instances,  either  in  Africa  or  elsewhere, 
of  the  transmutation  of  other  varieties  of  mankind  into  Ne 
groes  ;"  and  the  arguments  he  has  advanced,  that  the  Barabba 
of  Nubia,  a  copper-colored  race,  are  the  descendants  of  the 
Negro  mountaineers  of  Kordofan,  are  met  by  historical  proofs 
of  great  weight,  especially  when  they  are  opposed  mainly  by 
linguar  analogies.  On  the  other  hand,  it  needs  no  critical  ex 
amination  to  perceive,  that  however  they  may  have  originated, 
the  physical  peculiarities  of  different  races  have  been  retained 
with  the  greatest  tenacity,  under  every  variety  of  climate  and 
position.  The  Mongols  in  India,  the  Moors  in  Africa,  the  Lap 
landers,  the  Celts,  and  Germans  in  Europe,  the  African  slaves 
in  America,  and  the  contiguous  tribes  of  Papuas  and  Malays, 
in  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  where  they  have  not  intermarried, 
may  still,  after  the  lapse  of  a  long  period  of  time  be  distinctly 
traced,  while  the  Jews,  exposed  to  the  influences  of  every  clime, 
remain  an  incontrovertible  argument  against  the  inefficacy  of 
climate. 

Perceiving  the  difficulty  of  deducing  the  origin  of  the  races 
from  climatic  causes,  naturalists  have  recently  maintained  that 
this  diversity  has  arisen  from  a  liability,  existing  in  the  human 

*  Pritchard,  vol.  ii.  pp.  342,  260. 


248  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

constitution,  to  wander  from  its  primitive  form  in  the  produc 
tion  of  varieties,  which  are  continued  by  generation.  The 
arguments  in  favor  of  this  hypothesis  are  founded  upon  the 
occasional  production  of  Albinoes,  xanthous,  and  other  va 
rieties,  by  all  the  races, — in  the  existence  of  families  possess 
ing  certain  physical  peculiarities,  such  as  the  Sedigiti,  or  six- 
fingered  individuals  mentioned  by  Pliny  and  by  modern  physi 
ologists,  and  the  Porcupine  men  described  in  the  Philosophical 
Transactions,  which  monstrosities  have  been  transmitted  to  their 
offspring;  and  upon  analogical  testimony,  derived  from  the 
animal  kingdom,  of  similar  diversities  originating  sporadically 
and  continued  by  generation.  And  it  must  be  admitted  that 
this  theory  is  sufficiently  supported,  by  an  irrefragable  mass  of 
testimony,  to  establish  the  original  unity  of  the  human  race, 
and  to  indicate  that  the  varieties  of  mankind  are  descended 
from  the  same  primitive  stock.  Historically,  however,  we 
have  no  knowledge  that  the  races  have  thus  originated, — 
and,  in  searching  for  the  period  when  men  were  of  one  form  and 
appearance,  we  are  carried  back  to  the  ages  immediately  suc 
ceeding  the  deluge,  and  preceding  the  dispersion  of  nations. 
"  The  peculiarities  which  arose  in  the  human  species  at  a  re 
mote  and  unknown  period,  have  become  the  characteristic 
marks  of  large  nations ;  whereas  those  which  have  made  their 
appearance  in  later  times  have,  in  general,  extended  very  little 
beyond  the  individuals  in  whom  they  first  showed  themselves, 
and  certainly  have  never  attained  to  any  thing  like  a  prevalence 
throughout  whole  communities.  But  this  is  a  circumstance 
which  it  does  not  seem  difficult  to  explain ;  if  we  consider  that 
ever  since  the  population  of  the  world  has  been  of  large  amount, 
the  possessors  of  any  peculiar  organization  have  borne  such  a 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  249 

very  small  numerical  proportion  to  the  nation  to  which  they 
belonged,  that  it  is  no  way  surprising  that  they  should  soon 
have  been  lost  in  the  general  mass ;  still  less  that  they  should 
have  failed  to  impress  it,  with  their  own  peculiar  characters. 
In  the  early  period  of  the  world,  when  mankind,  few  in  num 
bers,  were  beginning  to  disperse  themselves  in  detached  bodies 
over  the  face  of  the  earth,  the  case  was  altogether  different ; 
and  we  can  easily  understand  how,  if  any  varieties  of  color, 
form,  or  structure  then  originated  in  the  human  race,  they 
would  naturally,  as  society  multiplied,  become  the  characteris 
tics  of  a  whole  nation."* 

That  the  physical  characteristics  of  several  of  the  races,  as 
they  now  exist,  are  of  great  antiquity,  and  entitle  them  to  be 
considered  as  primitive,  will  be  shown  hereafter,  and  we  now 
proceed,  therefore,  to  inquire,  what  is  the  number  of  primitive 
races  separated  and  distinguished  by  physical  differences.  In 
this  inquiry,  as  to  the  number  of  varieties  that  should  be  recog 
nized  in  the  human  species,  and  the  characters  which  mark 
them,  a  great  diversity  has  existed  among  naturalists,  arising 
from  the  various  methods  by  which  they  have  proceeded  to  its 
determination,  and  from  too  great  an  oversight  of  the  probable 
effects,  attending  the  intermixture  of  migrating  tribes.  Dr. 
Pritchard,  after  extensive  research,  and  with  an  application  of 
great  and  varied  erudition,  has  decided  upon  a  division  of  the 
human  family  into  seven  principal  classes,  separated  by  strongly 
marked  lines.  I.  The  Iranian  (or  Caucasian)  race.  II.  The 
Turanian  (or  Mongolian).  III.  The  Native  American,  ex 
cluding  the  Esquimaux  and  some  other  tribes.  IV.  The  Hot- 

*  Lib.  U.  Knowledge. 
32 


250  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

tentot  and  Bushman  race.  V.  The  Ethiopian  (or  Negro).  VI. 
The  Papuas  of  Polynesia.  VII.  The  Alfouru  and  Australian 
nations.*  Blumenbach,  who  has  been  followed  in  his  classifi 
cation  by  Dr.  Lawrencef  and  other  distinguished  naturalists, 
after  a  most  thorough  investigation,  determined  upon  a  distri 
bution  into  five  leading  divisions.  I.  The  Caucasian  race.  II. 
The  Mongolian.  III.  The  Ethiopian.  IV.  The  American,  and 
V.  The  Malay.  The  comprehensive  mind  of  Cuvier  seems  to 
have  inclined  him  to  a  less  complex  division  into  three  varie 
ties.  I.  The  Caucasian.  II.  The  Mongolian,  and  III.  The 
Ethiopian;  but  he  appears  to  have  been  undecided  with  re 
spect  to  the  specific  identity  of  the  American  race  with  the 
Mongolian,  and  of  the  Papuas  with  the  Negroes  or  Ethiopians.! 
This  division  into  three  varieties,  moreover,  is  recommended  by 
the  fact,  that  the  Caucasian,  Mongolian,  and  Ethiopian  races, 
or  as  they  may  be  styled,  the  white,  red,  and  black  races,  are 
'acknowledged  by  most  physiologists,  to  possess  the  strongest 
marks  of  difference,  and  that  they  form  a  component  part  in 
nearly  every  complete  system  yet  proposed.  In  view  of  the 
influences  of  climate,  manners  and  customs,  food,  and  of  all 
those  moral  and  physical  circumstances  which  are  admitted, 
even  by  those  who  maintain  the  original  and  constitutional  dis 
tinction  of  races,  to  operate  partially  upon  the  human  confor 
mation  ;  and  more  especially  in  consideration  of  the  undoubted 
results  of  intermarriage,  it  is  doubtless  unphilosophical,  to  con- 

*  Malte  Bran  it  is  said  enumerates  16  different  races.  Linnaeus 
divided  mankind  into  five  classes,  and  Buffon  at  first  into  six,  but 
afterwards  five. — Morton's  Crania  Americana,  p.  34. 

f  Lawrence's  Lectures  on  Man,  p.  355. 

|  R£gne  Animal,  vol.  i.  p.  54,  Am.  Edit. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  251 

cede  a  greater  number  of  primitive  varieties,  than  are  sufficient 
under  the  action  and  agency  of  these  causes,  to  account  for  the 
great  diversities  of  mankind  at  present  existing.  Or  in  other 
words,  if  by  the  admission  of  three  primitive  races,  all  the 
known  varieties  may  be  deduced  from  these,  by  the  unquestion 
able  influence  of  external  causes,  or  by  intermarriage,  we  are 
not  justified  in  asserting  a  greater  number.  The  leading  phys 
ical  peculiarities  of  the  three  great  races  are  as  follows. 

I.  The  Caucasian  race  is  distinguished  by  a  white  or  fair 
skin — hair  fine,  long,  and  often  curling,  and  together  with  the 
eyes,  of  various  colors  —  an  oval  face — full  beard — distinct  and 
finely  proportioned  features.     The  cranium  is  large — upper  and 
anterior  regions  fully  developed — chin  full,  and  the  teeth  ver 
tical.* 

II.  The  Mongolian  race  is  characterized  by  a  red  or  cop 
per-colored  complexion,  varying  on  the  one  hand  to  a  sallow 
yellow  or  tawny  color,  and  on  the  other  to  a  deep  mahogany 
hue ;  black  eyes,  long  straight  black  hair,  little  or  no  beard, 
long  linear  or  oblique  eyes,  high   cheek  bones — square  and 
pyramidal  head,  with  retreating  forehead — broad  and  flattened 
face. 

III.  The  Ethiopian  race  is  marked  by  a  black  skin — black 
eyes — black  and  woolly  hair,  prominent  cheek  bones — cranium 
compressed  laterally  and  elongated  towards  the  front — forehead 
low  and  narrow — jaws  projecting,  lips  thick,  and  nose  thick 
and  flat. 

It  is  not  to  be  asserted,  however,  that  these  characteristics 
are  constant, — as  in  the  white  race  a  great  variety  of  feature 

*  Morton's  Crania,  p.  5.     Prit,  Phys.  Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  262.     Law 
rence,  p.  356.     Cuvier,  Regne  Animal,  vol.  i.  p.  52. 


252  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

and  physical  conformation  is  observable,  so  in  the  others, 
though  in  an  inferior  degree,  considerable  differences  may  be 
remarked,  even  among  the  same  tribes  and  nations.  But  this 
individual  dissimilarity  is  not  generally  so  wide  and  extensive, 
as  to  create  a  doubt  as  to  what  race  the  individual  belongs.* 
Certain  portions  of  the  human  organization  are  so  variable,  as 
often  to  destroy  all  lines  of  distinction,  so  far  as  they  are  con 
cerned,  between  the  races ;  others  are  more  permanent,  and  of 
consequence  afford  surer  indications  to  distinguish  the  varieties. 
The  features,  intimately  connected  as  they  are  with  the  local 
position,  the  moral  and  intellectual  cultivation  and  faculties  of 
nations,  are  among  the  former  class ;  the  complexion,  and  the 
character  of  the  hair  among  the  latter.  Having  continual  re 
ference  to  this  criterion,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  most  constant 
peculiarities  of  the  three  races  consist :  1.  In  the  complexion, 
which  in  the  pure  varieties  is  either  white,  black,  or  of  a  red 
hue,  varying  to  yellow  or  deep  mahogany.  2.  In  the  form  of 
the  skull.  3.  In  the  hair,  which  is  either  fine,  long,  and  cur 
ling,  and  of  different  colors ;  black  and  woolly,  or  straight, 
black  and  lank.  4.  In  the  fullness  of  the  beard.  5.  In  the 
position  of  the  eyes,  the  obliquity  of  which  characterizes  the 
red  race. 

From  this  preliminary  review  of  the  arguments  and  opin 
ions  of  eminent  and  learned  physiolgists,  we  proceed,  with 
much  diffidence,  to  inquire  whether,  of  the  other  varieties  main 
tained  to  exist  by  naturalists,  there  are  any  entitled  to  be 
considered  as  primitive,  or  rather  as  possessing  such  distinctive 
characters  as  to  forbid  the  probability  of  their  being  mixed  races. 

*  Combe's  Phrenology,  p.  561,  etc.,  on  the  cerebral  development 
of  nations. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  253 

IV.  The  Papuas.    This  name  is  most  commonly  applied 
to  tribes,  whose  color,  approaching  to  black,  varies  in  the 
deepness   of  its  shade,  and   whose  hair  is   neither   lank    nor 
absolutely  woolly.*     They  inhabit  the  northern  parts  of  New 
Guinea,  the  islands  of  New  Britain  and  New  Ireland,  and  other 
groups  extending  southward  into  the  Pacific  Ocean.     Of  the 
genuine  Papuas  it  is  said,  that  "  the  color  of  the  skin  is  black, 
mixed  with  an  eighth  part  of  yellow,  which  imparts  to  it  a  clear 
tint  of  various  intensity.     Their  hair  is  black,  very  thick,  and 
moderately  woolly.     They  wear  it  frizzled  out  in  a  very  re 
markable  manner,  or  let  it  fall  upon  their  necks  in  long  and 
twisted  masses.     Their  countenance  and  features  are  regular, 
except  their  noses,  which  are  somewhat  flattened,  with  the 
nostrils  enlarged  in  the  transverse  direction.     Their  chins  are 
small  and  well  formed ;  their  cheek  bones  are  prominent,  their 
foreheads  elevated,  their  eyebrows  thick   and   long.      Their 
beards  are  thin ;  they  let  them  grow  upon  the  upper  lip  and  chin 
like  many  African  nations."!  ~  In  this  description  it  will  be 
perceived,  that  there  is  just  that  degree  of  diversity  from  the 
Ethiopian  or  Negro,  which  a  slight  mixture  with  the  Malay 
islanders  of  the  Pacific  might  produce.      This  conclusion  is 
strengthened  by  the  circumstance,  that  as  we  proceed  towards 
the  Malayan  islands,  where   the  races  may  be  mixed  more 
equally,   we   find  the  Papuan   complexion  becoming   lighter 
and  approaching  that  of  the  Oceanic  nations.     Mr.   Lesson, 
who  supposes  them  to  have  migrated  into  the  islands  of  the 

*  Prit.  Phys.  Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  249. 

f  Memoire  sur  les  Papouas  or  Papous,  par  MM.  Lesson  et  Gar- 
not.  Annales  des  Sie  Nat,  torn,  x,  1827,  p.  93,  cited  by  Pritchard, 
vol.  i.  p.  251. 


254  EESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

Pacific  subsequently  to  the  Oceanic  tribes,  traces  a  close 
resemblance  between  them  and  the  dark-colored  tribes  of 
Madagascar,  a  fact  which  adds  to  the  force  of  our  conjecture, 
for  in  that  island,  as  will  hereafter  appear,  there  is  also  a  race 
not  aboriginal,  distinguished  by  an  olive  color,  straight  black 
hair  and  thin  beard,  and  similar  to  the  Malay  race*  in  their 
leading  characteristics ;  and  from  which,  by  intermarriage  with 
the  Negro,  has  probably  originated  the  very  variety  resembling 
the  Papuas.  It  is  curious,  that  in  America,  we  find  the  same 
consequences  attending  the  mingling  of  the  two  races.  "  In 
this  part"  (of  Brazil),  say  MM.  Von  Spix  and  Von  Martius, 
""  we  met  with  several  families  of  the  people  called  Cafusos, 
who  are  a  mixture  of  blacks  and  Indians.  Their  external 
appearance  is  one  of  the  strangest  that  a  European  can  meet 
with.  They  are  slender  and  muscular,  in  particular  the  muscles 
of  the  breast  and  arms  are  very  strong ;  the  feet,  on  the  con 
trary,  in  proportion  weaker.  Their  color  is  a  dark  copper  or 
coffee  brown.  Their  features,  on  the  whole,  have  more  of  the 
Ethiopic  than  of  the  American  race.  The  countenance  is  oval, 
the  cheek-bones  high,  but  not  so  broad  as  in  the  Indians ;  the 
nose  broad  and  flattened,  but  neither  turned  up  nor  much  bent ; 
the  mouth  broad,  with  thick  but  equal  lips,  which,  as  well  as 
the  lower  jaw,  project  but  little ;  the  black  eyes  have  a  more 
open  and  freer  look  than  in  the  Indians,  yet  are  still  a  little  ob 
lique,  if  not  standing  so  much  inward  as  in  them,  on  the  other 
hand  not  turning  outwards  as  in  the  Ethiopians.  But  what 
gives  these  Mestizoes  a  peculiarly  striking  appearance,  is  the 
excessively  long  hair  of  the  head,  which,  especially  at  the  end, 
is  half  curled,  and  rises  almost  perpendicularly  from  the  fore- 

*  Ellis's  Hist.  Madagascar,  vol.  i.  pp.  115,  422,  and  preface,  p.  6. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   RED  RACE.  255 

head  to  the  height  of  a  foot,  or  a  foot  and  a  half,  thus  forming 
a  prodigious  and  very  ugly  kind  of  peruke.  This  strange  head 
of  hair,  which,  at  first  sight,  seems  more  artificial  than  natural, 
and  almost  puts  one  in  mind  of  the  plica  polonica,  is  not  a  dis 
ease,  but  merely  a  consequence  of  their  mixed  descent,  and  the 
mean  between  the  wool  of  the  Negro  and  the  long  stiff  hair  of 
the  American."  "  This  conformation  of  the  hair  gives  the  Ca- 
fusos  a  resemblance  with  the  Papuas  in  New  Guinea,  and  we 
therefore  thought  it  interesting  to  give  the  representation  of  a 
woman  of  that  race  in  her  peculiar  costume.3*1  To  this  it 
needs  only  to  add,  that  with  the  Papuas  of  New  Guinea  "the 
hair  is  long  and  woolly,  and  frequently  forms  a  huge  peruke 
three  feet  in  diameter."!  Thus  it  appears,  that  in  three  of  the 
quarters  of  the  globe,  where  the  Negro  and  Mongolian  races 
have  intermarried,  the  physical  result  is  nearly  the  same,  a 
circumstance  appearing  to  justify  the  inference,  that  the  Papuas 
are  a  mixed  race. 

V.  The  same  course  of  remark  applies  to  the  Alfourous 
or  Endamenes,  who  occupy  the  central  parts  of  some  of  the 
Polynesian  islands,  and  who,  so  far   as   our  descriptions  of 
them  extend,  seem  to  possess  none  of  those  distinctive  peculiari 
ties  which  should  class  them  as  a  separate  and  original  human 
variety.     For  this  reason,  they  have  been  omitted  in  several 
systems  of  classification. 

VI.  The  Hottentots  and  Bushmen  also  have  been  con 
sidered   as  composing  a  distinct  race.     They  are  of  a  yel 
low   or   nut-brown   color  :J    the   cheek-bones   are   high  and 

*  Travels  in  Brazil,  vol.  i.  pp.  323,  324. 
t  Forrest's  Voyage  to  New  Guinea. 

J  Kolben's  Voy.,  in  Mavor,  vol.  iv.  pp.  17,  18,  19.     Barrow's 
Southern  Africa,  vol.  i.  pp.  157,  278.     Trav.  in  China,  p.  30. 


256  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE   ORIGIN  AND 

prominent,  and  with  the  narrow  pointed  chin  form  nearly  a 
triangle ;  the  nose  is  generally  flat,  and  the  lips  thick.  The 
character  of  their  hair,  although  not  precisely  woolly,  approxi 
mates  them  to  the  Negro.  On  the  other  hand,  their  color, 
general  physiognomy,  and  particularly  the  position  of  the  eye, 
approach  the  physical  appearance  of  the  Mongolian  race. 
Their  eyes  are  "  so  oblique,  that  lines  drawn  through  the  cor 
ners  would  not  coincide  as  being  on  the  same  plane  :"  and  Mr. 
Barrow  observes,  "  the  color  of  the  eyes  is  of  a  deep  chestnut ; 
they  are  very  long  and  narrow,  removed  to  a  great  distance 
from  each  other ;  and  the  eyelids  at  the  extremity  next  to  the 
nose,  instead  of  forming  an  angle,  as  in  Europeans,  are  rounded 
into  each  other  exactly  like  those  of  the  Chinese,  to  whom,  in 
deed,  in  many  other  points  they  bear  a  physical  resemblance"* 
It  has  also  been  remarked,  that  besides  the  great  likeness  be 
tween  the  Hottentot  and  Mongolian  features,  a  close  analogy 
exists  between  the  shape  of  the  skull  in  both  races.  It  remains 
to  determine  what  peculiarities  of  organization  identify  the 
American,  Malay  and  Mongolian  races. 

VII.  The  American  race.  In  the  opinion  of  Cuvier,  the 
Americans  have  no  precise  or  constant  character,  which  can 
entitle  them  to  be  considered  as  a  particular  race,  referrible  to 
none  of  the  Eastern  continent,!  and  we  accordingly  find  that  dis 
tinguished  philosopher  hesitate  in  extending  the  number  of  hu 
man  varieties  beyond  the  Caucasian,  Mongolian  and  Ethiopian. 
The  American  aborigines  are  generally  distinguished  by  long, 
straight,  black  hair,  great  thinness  of  the  beard,  prominent 
cheek-bones,  a  copper  or  brown-red  color,  varying  to  lighter  or 
darker  shades,  thick  lips,  eyes  black,  and  often  obliquely  placed, 

*  Barrow,  p.  157.  |  Regne  Animal,  vol.  i.  p.  55. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  257 

and  noses  either  flat  or  aquiline.*  In  referring  to  such  excep 
tions  as  exist  to  this  description,  we  should  not  forget  that  tribal 
distinctions  are  everywhere  maintained  with  great  tenacity,  and, 
of  consequence,  that  to  such  occasional  aberrations  from  the 
common  standard  as  have  originated  among  any  particular 
family,  a  great  opportunity  for  perpetuation  has  been  afforded.f 
The  uniformity  of  the  American  physical  appearance  has,  how 
ever,  struck  most  travellers  and  naturalists  with  great  force. 
The  testimony  of  a  few  may  be  cited,  though  authorities  might 
easily  be  accumulated. 

"  The  Indians  of  New  Spain,"  says  Humboldt,  "  bear  a 
general  resemblance  to  those  who  inhabit  Canada,  Florida, 
Peru  and  Brazil.  They  have  the  same  swarthy  and  copper 
color,  flat  and  smooth  hair,  small  beard,  squat  body,  long 
eye,  with  the  corner  directed  upwards  towards  the  temples, 
prominent  cheek-bones,  thick  lips,  and  an  expression  of  gentle 
ness  in  the  mouth  strongly  contrasted  with  a  gloomy  and  severe 


*  Charlevoix  says  the  Indian  color  is  not  "a  third  species,  as 
some  people  have  imagined,  between  the  white  and  black.  They 
are  very  swarthy  and  of  a  dirty  dark  red,  which  appears  more  in 
Florida  and  Louisiana."  He  speaks  also  of  the  scantiness  of  their 
beards. —  Voyage,  vol.  ii.  p.  69. 

Dr.  Morton  maintains  that  their  color  is  not  red,  but  should  rather 
be  described  as  brown. 

"  Their  eyes,"  says  Hennepin,  speaking  of  the  northern  Indians, 
"  are  altogether  black ;  besides  they  differ  very  much  in  their  eyelids 
from  those  of  Europe.  Hence  it  comes  to  pass  that  their  sight  is 
stronger  and  more  piercing  than  ours." — Vol.  ii.  p.  70. 

f  Hum.  Pers.  Nar.,  vol.  v.  p.  565. 

33 


258  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

look."  "  Over  a  million  and  a  half  of  square  leagues,  from  the 
Terra  del  Fuego  islands,  to  the  river  St.  Lawrence  and  Beh- 
ring's  straits,  we  are  struck  at  the  first  glance  with  the  general 
resemblance  in  the  features  of  the  inhabitants."*  "  The  In 
dians,"  says  Ulloa,  "  are  of  a  copper  color,  which  by  the  action 
of  the  sun  and  air  grows  darker.  I  must  remark  that  neither 
heat  nor  cold  produces  any  sensible  change  of  color,  so  that 
the  Indians  of  the  Cordilleras  of  Peru  are  easily  confounded 
with  those  of  the  hottest  plains;  and  those  who  live  under 
the  line,  cannot  be  distinguished  by  the  color  from  those  who 
inhabit  the  fortieth  degrees  of  north  and  south  latitude."  "  I 
had  no  sooner  beheld  these  Americans,"  observes  the  enter 
prising  Ledyard  of  the  natives  of  Nootka,  "  than  I  set  them 
down  for  the  same  kind  of  people,  that  inhabit  the  opposite 
side  of  the  continent.  They  are  rather  above  the  middle  stat 
ure,  copper-colored,  and  of  an  athletic  make ;  they  have  long 
black  hair."f  "  I  have  been  forcibly  struck,"  says  Mr.  Flint, 
"  with  the  general  resemblance  in  the  countenance,  make, 
conformation,  manners  and  habits  of  the  Indians.  A  savage  of 
Canada  and  the  Rio  del  Norte  are  substantially  alike;  they 
are  all,  in  my  mind,  unquestionably  from  a  common  stock."! 
One  testimony  still  more  explicit,  if  possible,  may  be  added : 
Ulloa,  upon  his  return  from  South  America,  touched  at  Louis- 
burg,  at  which  place,  he  remarks,  "  In  this  and  the  adjacent 
islands  were  a  considerable  number  of  inhabitants,  born  in  the 
country,  or  on  the  main  land ;  and,  what  is  remarkable,  these 

*  Pol.  Ess.,  vol.  i.  pp.  105,  106.  f  Ledyard,  p.  71. 

t  Flint's  Recollections,  p.  137. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  259 

Indians  not  only  resemble  those  of  Peru  in  complexion  and 
aspect,  but  there  is  also  a  considerable  affinity  between  their 
manneis  and  customs;  the  only  visible  difference  is  in  stature, 
and  in  this  the  advantage  lies  visibly  on  the  side  of  the  inhabit 
ants  of  these  northern  climates."* 

That  this  uniformity  is  universal  and  applies  to  all  the  tribes 
cannot  be  maintained,  and  it  would  be  absurd  to  suppose  that 
it  existed.  But  yet  no  varieties  have  been  observed,  which  ap 
proach  the  Indians  anywhere  near  the  white  and  black  races, 
and  where  an  exception  occurs  in  one  particular,  the  other  pe 
culiarities  are  still  retained.  It  is  true,  many  statements  have 
been  made  concerning  the  existence  of  white  and  black  In 
dians,  but  upon  examination,  they  are  found  to  have  proceeded 
usually  from  the  early  travellers,  who  were  often  vague  and  ex 
aggerated  in  their  use  of  terms ;  or  to  have  been  founded  upon 
misnomers ;  or  to  have  related  to  tribes  who  had  intermarried 
with  Europeans.  An  instance  of  the  erroneous  conclusions 
which  may  be  drawn  from  a  misnomer  is  afforded  in  a  tribe  of 
the  Caucasus,!  who,  though  called  the  "  black  Circassians,  are 
of  a  very  fair  complexion."!  Thus,  in  America,  the  tribes  of 
the  upper  Orinoco,  who  have  been  styled  "White  Indians," 
according  to  Humboldt,  who  had  an  opportunity  for  personal 
examination,  differ  from  other  Indians,  only  by  a  much  less 
tawny  skin,  having  at  the  same  time,  the  features,  the  stature, 

*  Voyage  to  S.  Am.,  vol.  ii.  p.  376. 

t  Morton's  Crania,  p.  8. 

I  We  read  also  in  Herodotus,  5 :  49,  of  the  Leuco-Syrii,  or  White 
Syrians ;  and  even  among  the  Mongols,  there  was  a  tribe  called  the 
White  Calmucks,— Heeren,  Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  118,  and  another,  the  Gold 
en  Horde.  Pallas,  i.  185. 


260 


RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 


and  the  smooth,  straight  black  hair  of  their  race.*  The  Ar 
kansas,  in  North  America,  of  whom  the  same  assertion  has  been 
made,  though  not  of  a  copper  color,  are  dark  and  tawny,  and 
possess  all  the  Indian  peculiarities  of  form  and  feature.f  An 
idea  may  be  gathered  of  the  inaccurate  notions  formerly  pre 
vailing  upon  this  subject  by  the  assertion  of  Charlevoix,  that 
several  tribes,  and  among  them,  some  of  the  Esquimaux,  have 
white  hair;  indeed  he  adds  of  the  latter  nation  that  they  have 
a  beard,  "  so  thick  up  to  their  eyes,  that  it  is  difficult  to  distin 
guish  any  features  of  the  face,"  that  "  they  are  tall  and  pretty 
well  shaped,""  and  that  "  their  skin  is  white  as  snow"\  Frezier 
also  says,  that  the  Fuegians  are  almost  as  white  as  Europeans,§ 
a  statement  abundantly  disproved  by  subsequent  observations. 

For  the  purpose  of  showing  how  restricted  these  apparent 
exceptions  are,  and  in  order  to  indicate  the  general  predomi 
nance  of  those  characteristics  which  mark  the  race,  it  may  be 
well  to  attempt  a  brief  physical  synopsis  of  the  tribes,  confirmed 
by  the  testimony  of  various  travellers. 

The  Esquimaux  have  generally  been  distinguished  from  the 
American  race,  in  consequence  of  their  color,  diminutive  stat 
ure,  and  other  peculiarities,  but  it  is  apprehended,  that  in  pro 
ducing  these  signs  of  difference,  so  far  as  they  really  exist,  nat 
ural  causes,  such  as  food,  mode  of  life  and  climate,  have  chiefly 
operated.  The  strongest  evidence,  however,  of  their  affiliation 
to  the  other  Indian  tribes  is  afforded  in  the  physical  appearance 
of  the  Fuegians,  who  occupy  a  region,  where  similar  causes 
have  existed  and  produced  the  same  results.  "  The  general 


*  Pers.  Nar.j  vol.  v.  p.  566,  etc.       f  Nuttall's  Arkansas,  pp.  S3.  84. 
J  Voyage,  vol.  i.  pp.  28, 34, 144.     §  Frezier's  Voyage,  p.  34. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  261 

form  of  the  Fuegians  is  peculiar,  the  head  and  body  being  par 
ticularly  large,  and  the  extremities  unusually  small ;  but  the 
feet  are  broad  though  short.  This  peculiarity,  no  doubt,  is  ow 
ing  to  their  mode  of  life,  etc.  From  the  same  cause,  want  of 
exercise,  this  is  the  form -of  the  Esquimaux  and  the  Lapland 
ers."*  The  Fuegians  have  generally  straight,  long,  and  jet 
black  hair,  scanty  beard,  a  broad  face,  black,  angular  Chinese 
eyes,  copper  complexion  and  small  stature.  In  the  work  just 
cited,  there  are  several  interesting  descriptions  of  particular  in 
dividuals  of  this  tribe,  as  follows.  "  The  complexion  of  this 
man  was  dark,  his  skin  of  a  copper  color,  the  native  hue  of  the 
Fuegian  tribes,  the  eyes  and  hair  black, — this  is  universal,  as 
far  as  I  have  seen,  and  predominant  throughout  all  the  abori 
gines  of  America,  from  the  Fuegians  to  the  Esquimaux."  And 
again,  "  the  features  of  this  individual  were  rounder,  than  they 
generally  are  among  those  of  his  nation,  the  form  of  whose 
countenance  resembles  that  of  the  Laplanders  and  Esquimaux. 
They  have  broad  faces  with  projecting  cheek  bones ;  the  eyes 
of  an  oval  form,  and  drawn  towards  the  temples."  The  stat 
ure  of  the  Fuegians  is  generally  from  four  feet  ten  inches  to 
five  feet  six  inches,  and  their  figures  are  similar  to  those  of  the 
Esquimaux.! 

The  Patagonians  afford  a  striking  instance,  of  the  exagge 
rated  and  gross  inaccuracies,  which  pervade  many  of  the  ac 
counts  of  the  Indian  tribes.  Indeed  it  is  but  recently  that  the 

*  "  We  have  observed,"  says  Dobrizhoffer,  "  some  resemblance 
in  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  Abipones,  to  the  Laplanders  and 
people  of  Nova  Zembla."  Vol.  ii.  p.  2. 

f  Voyages  of  King  and  Fitzroy,  vol.  i.  pp.  75,  216;  vol.  ii.  pp. 
175,  215 ;  vol.  iii.  p.  142,  etc.  Byron's  Trav.,  p.  59. 


262  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

fanciful  stones  which  had  been  propagated  concerning  the  stat 
ure  of  these  natives  have  been  disproved ;  and  a  careful  exami 
nation  of  all  the  authorities,  together  with  the  observation  of 
recent  voyagers,  has  satisfactorily  shown  that  their  height  has 
been  greatly  over-estimated.  The  medium  stature  of  this  race 
appears  to  be  from  five  feet  ten  inches  to  six  feet.  Falkner, 
however,  bore  impartial  and  correct  testimony.  "  The  Patago- 
nians,  or  Puelches,"  he  says,  "  are  a  large  bodied  people,  but  I 
never  heard  of  that  gigantic  race,  which  others  have  mentioned, 
though  I  have  seen  persons  of  all  the  different  tribes  of  south 
ern  Indians."  The  color  of  the  Patagonians  is  a  rich,  reddish 
brown,  rather  darker  than  copper,  the  head  is  long,  broad,  and 
flat,  the  forehead  low,  the  face  of  a  square  form,  the  eyes  small 
and  often  obliquely  placed,  the  nose  rather  flat,  but  sometimes 
aquiline,  the  hair  long,  lank,  and  black,  and  the  beard  thin.* 
Proceeding  to  the  north,  the  nomade  Pehuenches  and  the  Arau- 
canians,  according  to  Mr.  Poeppig,  "  belong  to  the  same  branch 
of  the  great  copper-colored,  or  Patagonian  race."  The  Arau- 
canians  are  of  a  reddish  brown  or  copper  color,  are  finely  shaped 
and  muscular,  and  have  small  black  eyes,  a  broad  face,  flattish 
nose,  coarse  black  hair,  and  no  beard.f  One  tribe  it  has  been 
thought  offers  an  exception  to  this  description, — the  Boroanes, 
or  Borea  Indians  living  near  Valdivia,  in  Chile.  Some  of  them 
are  said  to  have  light  eyes,  a  fair  complexion  and  red  hair.J 
Frezier  disposes  of  this  objection,  for  he  says,  in  speaking 
of  those  who  are  thus  distinguished,  "  these  are  descended 

*  King  and  Fitzroy,  vol.  i.  p.  103 ;  vol.  ii.  pp.  134,  135. 
I  Stevenson,  vol.  i.  p.  3.     Frezier,  pp.  69,  70.     Molina,  vol.  i.  p. 
234  ;  vol.  ii.  p.  4. 

J  King  and  Fitzroy,  vol.  ii.  pp.  402,  465.     Molina,  vol.  ii.  p.  4. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  263 

from  the  women  taken  in  the  Spanish  towns  they  destroyed  ;"* 
his  statement  is  fully  confirmed  also  by  Ulloa,  who  traces  this 
diversity  to  the  same  cause.f 

The  present  Peruvian  Indians,  who  are  of  the  same  race  as 
the  ancient  inhabitants,  are  described  as  of  a  copper  color,  with 
high  cheek  bones,  small  black  eyes  set  widely  apart,  hair  coarse 
and  black,  without  any  inclination  to  curl,  beard  scanty,  nose 
somewhat  flattened,  small  stature,  and  the  feet  small  :J  these 
characters  are  of  general  prevalence  among  all  the  natives. 
The  Bolivian  Indians,  according  to  Dr.  Ruschenberger,  are  dark 
copper-colored,  the  nose  is  flattened,  and  the  eyes  are  obliquely 
placed. 

In  general,  the  same  physical  description  will  apply  to  the 
numerous  hordes  of  Brazil.§  The  Mongul  physiognomy  is  more 
striking  in  these  tribes,  than  in  those  of  any  other  part  of  America. 
Prince  Maximilian  describes  one  of  these  Indians  as  "  distin 
guished  from  all  the  rest  by  his  Calmuck  physiognomy ;"  but 
the  same  characters  are  of  almost  universal  prevalence.  Pass 
ing  further  to  the  north,  but  little  variation  from  this  type  can 
be  found  in  the  tribes  inhabiting  Guiana  and  Colombia.  Hum- 
boldt  has  termed  the  complexion  of  the  Chaymas  and  other  na 
tives  of  this  region,  a  dull  brown  or  brown-red,  inclining  to  a 
tawny  color,  and  he  adds  that  they  resemble  the  Monguls,  by 


*  At  Valdivia,  the  native  race  has  been  thought  to  resemble  the 
Hindoos. — King  and  Fitzroy,  vol.  ii.  p.  398.  Frezier,  p.  70. 

f  Ulloa,  vol.  ii.  p.  287. 

t  Ruschenberger,  pp.  217,  380,  etc.  Ulloa,  vol.  i.  pp.  281,  417. 
Stevenson,  vol.  i.  p.  376. 

§  Graham's  Voyage,  p.  294.     Henderson's  Brazil,  pp.  208,  211. 


264-  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

the  form  of  the  eye,  their  high  cheek  bones,  their  straight  hair, 
and  the  almost  entire  absence  of  beard.* 

The  natives  of  the  West  India  Islands  at  the  discovery  con 
sisted  of  two  classes,  differing  slightly  in  appearance,  and  more  * 
considerably  in  manners  and  character.  The  Charibs,  who  oc 
cupied  the  small  islands  of  the  southern  part  of  this  group,  were 
of  a  fierce,  cruel,  and  indomitable  disposition.  The  Arrowauks, 
who  resided  in  the  larger  and  northernmost  islands,  were  of  a 
milder  character,  and  appear  to  have  possessed  more  of  the 
arts  of  civilization.  The  Charibs  were  of  a  tawny  or  dark 
brown  complexion,  middling  stature,  robust  and  muscular,  with 
small  black  eyes,  long  straight  black  hair,  scanty  beard,  and 
flat  retreating  foreheads.  The  Arrowauks  were  taller  than  the 
former  race,  and  of  a  reddish  brown  color,  their  foreheads 
were  flat,  though  not  so  retreating  as  those  of  the  Charibs,  the 
hair  was  straight,  black,  and  lank,  the  beard  scanty,  the  eyes 
black,  cheek  bones  prominent,  the  face  broad  and  the  nose  flat.f 

The  Mexican  Indians  have  generally  "  a  swarthy  and  copper 
color,  flat  and  smooth  hair,  small  beard  and  squat  body,  long 
eye,  with  the*  corner  directed  upwards  towards  the  temples, 
prominent  cheek  bones  and  thick  lips."J  Clavigero  says,  that 
the  moral  and  physical  qualities  of  the  Mexicans  proper,  were 
the  same  as  those  of  the  adjacent  nations,  so  that  the  description 
of  the  one  is  equally  applicable  to  the  rest ;  he  considers  the 
color  of  the  skin,  however,  as  olive.§  According  to  Humboldt, 

*  Pers.  Nar.,  vol.  iii.  p.  223.  Temple's  Travels,  p.' 67.  Smyth's 
Nar.,  pp.  210,  223. 

f  Edward's  Hist.  West  India  Islands,  vol.  i.  pp.  36,  63.  Arch. 
Am.,  vol.  i.  p.  371,  372.  J  Pol.  ESP.,  vol.  i.  p.  105. 

§  Hist.  Mex.,  vol.  i.  p.  78. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED   RACE.  265 

the  Aztec  and  Otomite  tribes  have  more  beard  than  the  others, 
and  many  of  them  wear  small  mustaches. 

The  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  Upper  California,  when  first 
observed  by  the  early  Spanish  travellers,  were  of  the  same  stock 
as  those  living  in  the  adjoining  peninsula.  Though  the  differ 
ent  tribes  varied  in  some  unimportant  particulars,  they  bore  a 
general  resemblance  to  each  other ; — and  though  some  are  de 
scribed  as  of  a  diminutive  size,  they  were  usually  of  ordinary 
stature.  They  were  of  a  darker  color,  than  the  natives  of  the 
more  southern  provinces,  their  lips  were  large  and  projecting, 
noses  broad  and  flat,  foreheads  low,  beard  scanty,  and  hair 
straight  and  black ; — long  beards,  it  is  said,  have  occasionally 
been  observed.*  This  was  one  of  the  localities  where  Ameri 
can  negroes  have  been  placed,  an  idea  which  the  following 
passage  from  Venegas  may  possibly  dispose  of.  "  It  is  known," 
he  says,  "  that  some  ships  have  left  Mulattoes  and  Mestizoes  at 
Cape  San  Lucas."  "  Father  Juan  de  Forquemada,  tells  us  that 
the  Californians  showed  no  manner  of  surprise,  at  the  sight  of 
negroes,  there  being  some  of  that  cast  among  them,  the  race  of 
those  who  had  be°n  left  by  a  ship  from  the  Philippine  islands"^ 
The  nations  near  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  river  generally 
resemble  each  other  in  their  physical  appearance.  Their  stat 
ure  is  diminutive,  "  the  complexion  is  the  usual  copper-colored 
brown  of  the  North  American  tribes,  though  rather  lighter  than 
that  of  the  Indians  of  the  Missouri ;"  the  mouth  is  wide  and 
the  lips  are  thick,  the  nose  is  wide  at  the  extremity,  and  low 
between  the  eyes,  the  eyes  are  generally  black,  the  face  broad, 

*  Forbes'  California,  pp.  180,  183.     La  Perouse.    Beechey,  pp. 
304,  337.     Handy's  Trav.  in  Mexico,  p.  289. 

t  Hist.  California,  vol.  i.  pp.  5$,  94 ;  vol.  ii.  pp.  238,  354. 

34 


266  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

forehead  flat,  and  the  hair  straight  and  black.  The  form  of  the 
forehead  arises  from  artificial  compression  of  the  cranium,  which 
is  carried  to  such  an  extent,  that  the  forehead  often  runs  in  a 
straight  line  from  the  nose  to  the  crown  of  the  head.*  Further 
to  the  North  and  along  the  Pacific,  tribes  have  been  observed, 
which  are  said  to  be  distinguished  by  a  lighter  complexion. 
The  Cheyennes  and  other  tribes  on  the  shores  of  the  south 
western  tributaries  of  the  Missouri,  though  differing  somewhat 
in  features  and  size,  "  still,  in  the  direction  of  the  eye,  the  prom 
inence  of  the  cheek  bones,  the  form  of  the  lips,  chin,  and  re 
treating  forehead,  are  precisely  similar "  to  the  Missouri  In- 
dians.f 

The  Osages  are  a  fine  race  of  men,  tall,  well  made,  of  a 
tawny  red  color,  with  aquiline  features,  prominent  cheek  bones 
and  straight  black  hair.  "  They  do  not  seem  to  differ  in  point 
of  features  and  color  from  the  Missouri  Indians ;  their  stature 
is  by  no  means  inferior  to  the  latter."  Mr.  Brackenridge  also 
remarks  of  this  tribe,  that  "  they  have  been  noted  for  their  un 
common  stature.  This  is  somewhat  exaggerated,  though  they 
are  undoubtedly  above  the  ordinary  size  of  men.  The  wan 
dering,  or  semi-wandering  nations  of  Louisiana  may  be  cha 
racterized  as  exceeding  the  whites  in  stature." J  The  Arkansas 
are  dark,  but  not  copper-colored,  they  possess  fine  aquiline  fea 
tures,  scanty  beards,  long  black  hair  and  elongated  angular 


*  Lewis  and  Clarke,  vol.  ii.  pp.  12,  131.  Cox's  Adventures  on 
Columbia  river,  p.  69,  121. 

f  Long's  Expedition,  vol.  ii.  p.  180. 

J  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  p.  242.  Description  of  the  Red  River,  p.  107.  Nut- 
tail's  Arkansas,  p.  186.  Brackenridge 's  Views,  p.  69. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  267 

eyes.*  The  same  general  characteristics  as  those  already  in 
dicated,  with  the  exception  of  a  greater  prominence  of  the 
cheek-bones,  mark  the  Sioux,  Pawnees,  and  other  tribes  inhabit 
ing  the  region  west  of  the  Mississippi.  The  Mandans,  how 
ever,  appear  to  have  a  lighter  color,  and  though  possessing  the 
Indian  form  in  other  respects,  their  hair  in  some  instances  is  of 
a  light  chestnut  color  and  the  eyes  are  of  a  bluish  cast.  But 
connected  as  they  are  by  affinities  in  language  to  other  tribes, 
whose  Indian  physiognomy  cannot  be  doubted,  it  is  possible 
that  these  peculiarities  have  been  produced  by  an  intermixture 
of  the  race. 

"  We  see  nothing,"  says  Charlevoix,  "  in  the  outward  ap 
pearance  of  the  Natchez,  that  distinguishes  them  from  the  other 
savages  of  Canada  and  Louisiana  ;"f  the  same  appears  to  have 
been  the  case  with  all  the  southern  Indians,  and  a  description 
of  one  tribe,  will  therefore  answer  for  the  rest.  "  The  Chicka- 
saws,"  says  Mr.  Adair,  "  are  a  comely,  pleasant  looking  people. 
Their  faces  are  tolerably  round,  contrary  to  the  visage  of  the 
Choctaws,  which  inclines  much  to  flatness,  as  is  the  case  of  most 
of  the  other  Indian  Americans.  The  lips  of  the  Indians  in  gene 
ral  are  thin,  their  eyes  are  small,  sharp  and  black,  and  their  hair 
is  lank,  coarse  and  darkish ;  they  pluck  their  beards."! 

The  similarity  in  the  physical  appearance  of  the  numerous 
tribes  of  the  Algonquin-Lenape  race  and  of  the  Iroquois  was 
equally  striking.  Smith  describes  the  Powhatans  as  generally 
tall  and  of  good  proportions,  with  a  brown  color,  black  hair, 


*  NuttalFs  Arkansas,  pp.  83,  84.     Charlevoix,  Voy.,  vol.  ii.  p.  185. 
t  Charlevoix,  Voyage,  vol.  ii.  p.  195. 
J  Hist.  Am.  Ind.,  pp.  5,  6. 


268  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE   ORIGIN  AND 

and  little  beard.*  Loskiel  says  that  "  the  Delawares  and  Iro- 
quois,  and  other  nations  in  league  with  them,  resemble  each 
other  much,  both  as  to  their  bodily  and  mental  qualifications. 
*  *  *•  Their  skin  is  of  a  reddish  brown,  nearly  resembling 
copper,  but  in  different,  shades.  Some  are  of  a  brown  yellow, 
not  much  differing  from  the  mulattoes;  some  light  brown, 
hardly  to  be  known  from  a  brown  European,  except  by  their 
hair  and  eyes.  The  former  is  jet  black,  stiff,  lank  and  coarse, 
and  almost  like  horse  hair."f  Smith  describes  the  Iroquois  as 
tall,  beardless,  of  a  tawny  complexion,  and  having  black  un 
curled  hair;J  and  Charlevoix,  as  of  a  lofty  stature,  with  black 
hair  and  a  scanty  beard.  "The  color  of  the  savages,"  he  says, 
"  does  not  prove  a  third  species  between  the  white  and  black, 
as  some  people  have  imagined.  They  are  very  swarthy  and  of 
a  dirty  dark  red."  The  Knisteneaux,  a  branch  of  the  Algon 
quin  race,  who  had  penetrated  the  farthest  towards  the  north 
east,  and  inhabited  the  territory  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  shores 
of  Hudson's  Bay,  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Churchill  rivers,  are  de 
scribed  by  Mr.  McKenzie§  "  as  of  moderate  stature.  Their  com 
plexion  is  of  a  copper-color,  and  their  hair  black,  which  is  com 
mon  to  all  the  natives  of  North  America.  It  is  cut  in  various 
forms  according  to  the  fancy  of  the  several  tribes,  and  by  some 
is  left  in  the  long  lank  flow  of  nature.  They  very  generally 

*  Voyages  and  Discoveries,  vol.  i.  p.  128. 

f  History,  etc.,  p.  12.  Van  Der  Donck's  New  Netherlands,  N. 
Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  vol.  i.  p.  190.  De  Laet,  ibid.  p.  312. 

I  Smith's  Hist.  N.  Y.,  vol.  i.  p.  69.  Charlevoix,  vol.  ii.  pp.  60, 
69.  This  author  fell  also  into  the  erroneous  notion  that  the  Indians 
were  born  white. 

§  McKenzie's  Journal,  p.  387. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  269 

extract  their  beards,"  "  their  eyes  are  black,  keen  and  pene 
trating — their  countenance  open  and  agreeable."  Some  indi 
viduals  have  been  seen  with  full  beards.*  The  tract  of  country 
situated  to  the  north-west  of  the  Knisteneaux  is  inhabited  by 
the  Chippewyans — all  the  territory  between  60°  and  65°  N. 
L.  and  Long.  110  and  100  West,  they  consider  as  their  lands 
and  home.  But  tribes  of  this  race  border  in  the  east  on  the 
Knisteneaux,  and  extend  on  the  west  to  the  Pacific,  and  on  the 
north  to  the  territory  of  the  Esquimaux.  At  least  this  is  to  be 
inferred  from  ethnographical  analogies,  for  tribes  who  speak 
their  language  are  found  over  this  vast  district  even  as  far  south 
as  Lat.  52  North,  on  the  Columbia  river.f  "  Their  complexion 
is  swarthy,"  says  McKenzie,  "  their  features  coarse,  and  their 
hair  lank — but  not  always  of  a  dingy  black — nor  have  they 
universally  the  piercing  eye  which  generally  animates  the  In 
dian  countenance."  "  The  men  in  general  extract  their  beards, 
though  some  of  them  are  seen  to  prefer,  a  bushy  black  beard,  to 
a  smooth  chin."f  The  tribes  situate  to  the  westward  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Pacific,  have  been  described  in  a  similar  manner, 
with  the  exception  of  their  complexion,  which  is  said  to  be  of  a 
"  light  copper-color,"§  accompanied  with  long  lank  hair  and 
black  eyes.  Mr.  Hearne  remarks  of  these  Indians,  that  their 
complexion  "  is  somewhat  of  the  coppe?  cast,  inclining  rather 
towards  a  dingy  brown,"  that  their  foreheads  are  low,  cheek 
bones  high,  eyes  small,  and  their  hair  black,  strong  and  straight. 

*  A  General  History  of  the  Fur  Trade,  p.  89. 
t  McKenzie's  Journal,  p.  387.     Hist.  Fur  Trade,  p.  111.     Cox's 
Adventures  on  the  Columbia  River,  appendix,  pp.  334,  331. 
J  Hist.  Fur  Trade,  p.  114. 
§  Cox,  p.  324. 


270  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

"  Few  of  the  men  have  any  beard ;  this  seldom  makes  its  ap 
pearance  until  they  arrive  at  middle  age."* 

The  Esquimaux  inhabit  all  the  northern  regions  of  the 
continent  stretching  along  the  Arctic  seas  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific,  and  a  considerable  distance  south  along  the  shores 
of  the  two  oceans.  The  western  tribes  appear  to  be  the  most 
assimilated  to  the  general  type  of  the  American  race,  and  as 
their  language  and  customs  connect  them  with  those  towards 
the  east,  it  is  possible  that  the  varieties  observed  in  the  color 
and  features  of  the  latter  are  owing  to  foreign  causes.  Gen 
erally  upon  the  northern  coast  opposite  to  Asia,  the  inhabitants 
are  stout  and  short,  of  a  swarthy  color,  with  thick  lips,  black 
eyes  and  hair,  thin  beard,  and  high  cheek  bones.f  Further  to 
the  east,  the  Esquimaux  met  by  Hearne,  on  the  Coppermine  river, 
are  described  as  of  small  stature,  and  a  dirty  copper-colored 
complexion,  though  some  of  the  women  are  more  fair.J  Ac 
cording  to  Crantz  this  race  are  of  a  dwarfish  size,  the  face  is 
broad  and  flat,  the  cheek  bones  high,  the  eyes  black,  the  hair 
long,  straight  and  black,  and  the  hands  and  feet  small.§  Their 
color,  he  says,  is  olive,  though  there  are  some  who  have  a  mo 
derately  white  skin,  but  the  children  are  born  white.  Cap 
tain  Back  in  Lat.  67°  Long.  94°  observed  Esquimaux  who  had 
a  luxuriant  growth  of  beard ;  .their  eyes  were  obliquely  placed ; 
and  it  is  remarkable  that  they  were  not  tattooed. 

"  The  male  Esquimaux  have  rather  a  prepossessing  physi- 

*  Hearne's  Journey,  p.  305. 

t  History  Kamtschatka,  pp.  46,  47.     Coxe's  Russ.  Disc.,  pp.  146, 
256.    Beechey's  Nar.,  p.  210. 
J  Hearne's  Journey,  p.  166. 
§  Hist.  Greenland,  vol.  i.  133. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  271 

ognomy,  but  with  very  high  cheek  bones,  broad  foreheads  and 
small  eyes,  rather  farther  apart  than  those  of  a  European.  The 
corners  of  their  eyelids  are  drawn  together  so  close,  that  none 
of  the  white  is  to  be  seen ;  their  mouths  are  wide  and  their 
teeth  wide  and  regular.  The  complexion  is,  a  dusky  yellow, 
but  some  of  the  young  women  have  a  little  color  bursting 
through  this  dark  tint.  The  noses  of  the  men  are  rather  flat 
tened,  but  those  of  the  women  are  rather  prominent.  The 
males  are,  generally  speaking,  between  five  feet  five  inches  and 
five  feet  eight  inches  high,  bony  and  broad  shouldered,  but  do 
not  appear  to  possess  much  muscular  shape."  "  But  the  most 
surprising  peculiarity  of  this  people  is  the  smallness  of  their 
hands  and  feet."*  Captain  Graah  says,  "the  Greenlanders 
inhabiting  the  southern  part  of  the  west  coast,  (and  it  is  to  be 
observed,  this  is  the  coast  upon  which  the  ancient  Icelandic  set 
tlements  were  probably  made,)  have  little  in  their  exterior  in 
common  with  genuine  Esquimaux;  and  the  inhabitants  of  the 
country  about  the  bay  of  Disco  in  North  Greenland,  and  the 
natives  of  the  east  coast  seem  to  me  to  have  still  less.  They 
have  neither  the  full  fleshy  person,  nor  the  prominent  paunch 
of  the  Esquimaux,  but  are  on  the  contrary  slender  and  even 
meager.  They  are  moreover  distinguished  from  the  Esquimaux, 
by  a  uniformity  of  head  and  cast  of  countenance  which  is  hand 
somer  and  more  expressive.  The  women  and  children  have 
many  of  them  brown  hair,  and  a  complexion  scarcely  less  fair 
than  that  of  our  peasantry,"  etc.  "  But  as  I  should  not  venture 
to  conclude,  that  the  Esquimaux  about  Hudson's  Bay  have  any 
claims  to  the  honor  of  a  Roman  parentage  from  the  circum- 

*  Chappell's  Narrative,  p.  9.     A  Voyage  to  Hudson's  Bay,  pp. 

58,  59. 


272  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

stance  of  Sir  Edward  Parry's  having  seen  many  a  good  Roman 
nose  among  them,  neither  do  I  conceive,  that  the  natives  of  the 
east  coast  of  Greenland  are  descended  from  the  old  Icelandic 
colonies,  because  in  some  points  they  resemble  Europeans. 
Their  lank  hair,  their  black  and  somewhat  Chinese  eyes,  their 
disproportion  ally  large  hands  and  feet,  their  temper  'and  dis 
position,  their  manners,  customs  and  language,  all  indicate  that 
they  are  of  the  same  stock  originally  with  the  Esquimaux." 
"  Some  few  of  them  wear  beards  and  mustaches,  but  by  far 
the  greater  number  eradicate  the  beard  as  it  appears."  Cap 
tain  Parry  says  of  some  Esquimaux,  North  Lat.  67°  Long.  85°, 
"  their  countenances  at  the  time  impressed  me  with  the  idea  of 
Indian  rather  than  of  Esquimaux  features — but  this  variety  of 
physiognomy  we  afterwards  found  not  to  be  uncommon  among 
these  people."* 

The  same  traveller  in  his  general  description  of  those  at 
Winter  island  and  Igloolik,  observes  that  they  are  of  low  sta 
ture,  their  hands  and  feet  are  remarkably  small,  their  faces  are 
generally  round  and  full,  eyes  small  and  black,  nose  also  small 
and  sunk  far  in  between  the  cheek  bones,  but  not  much  flat 
tened.  "  In  the  young  of  both  sexes  the  complexion  is  clear  and 
transparent,  and  the  skin  smooth.  The  color  is  scarcely  a  shade 
darker  than  that  of  a  deep  brunette,  so  that  the  blood  is  plainly 
perceptible  when  it  mounts  into  the  cheeks ;  the  eyes  are  not 
horizontal,  but  much  lower  at  the  end  next  to  the  nose,  than 
at  the  other.  The  hair  is  black,  glossy  and  straight.  The 
men  wear  the  hair  on  the  upper  lip  and  chin  from  one  to 
one  and  a  half  inches  in  length, — and  some  were  distinguished 

*  Parry's  Second  Voyage,  p.  73. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  273 

by  a  little  tuft  between  the  chin  and  lower  lip.*  It  seems 
most  probable,  therefore,  that  the  aberrations  from  the  general 
physical  standard,  observed  in  the  eastern  Esquimaux,  have 
been  occasioned  by  a  European  intermixture;  by  intermar 
riages,  probably,  with  the  lost  Icelandic  colonists  alluded  to 
by  Captain  Graah.  Of  the  western  branches  of  the  race 
the  color  and  features  are  essentially  the  same  as  those  which 
characterize  the  aborigines  generally.  It  thus  appears  that 
a  most  striking  physical  uniformity  prevails  among  all  the 
American  tribes,  that  the  variations  from  the  predominant  type 
are  trifling  and  infrequent,  and  where  they  do  exist,  may  in 
several  cases  be  traced  to  intermarriages  with  individuals  of 
the  white  or  black  race.f 

It  remains  to  inquire  whether  the  ancient  and  civilized  na 
tions  of  the  United  States,  Peru,  and  Mexico  belonged  to  the 
same  race.  If  the  tribes  now  inhabiting  Mexico  and  Peru  are 
to  be  regarded  as  the  descendants  of  those  nations,  the  question 
would  meet  an  easy  solution ;  but  the  peculiar  conformation  of 
the  ancient  skulls  found  in  the  mounds,  and  the  singular  phys 
iognomy  observed  in  the  human  representations  upon  the  Mex 
ican  paintings  and  monuments,  afford  some  cause  for  hesitation. 
But  it  should  be  remembered  that  in  the  early  stages  of  art, 
there  is  a  tendency  to  delineate  monstrous  and  exaggerated  fig 
ures,  which  at  a  subsequent  period,  when  more  elegance  and 
correctness  .are  attained,  custom,  prejudice  and  superstition 
having  once  rendered  sacred,  are  never  abandoned.  The 
Egyptians,  says  Plato,  having  once  determined  upon  the  forms 

*  Parry's  Second  Voyage,  p.  405. 

t  The  light  complexion  of  some  of  the  Botocudos  in  Brazil  has 
been  traced  to  the  same  cause. 

35 


274  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

to  be  exhibited  in  their  paintings  and  sculptures,  it  was  no 
longer  lawful  for  painters  or  other  imitative  artists  to  attempt 
any  innovation.  That  such  an  arbitrary  rule  prevailed  in  Mex 
ico,  where,  from  the  absence  of  the  art  of  writing,  it  became 
necessary  to  adhere  to  the  forms  which  had  been  adopted  in 
their  hieroglyphical  paintings,  not  only  appears  reasonable,  but 
is  manifest  by  the  most  cursory  examination  of  the  picture- 
writings.  Accordingly  we  find  in  some  cases,  particularly  in 
their  sculpture,  when  it  was  designed  to  represent  real  individ 
uals,  that  the  style  is  changed,  and  the  figures  approach  nearer 
to  the  present  Indian  physiognomy.  In  one  respect  the  repre 
sentations  on  the  monuments  and  paintings  are  assimilated  to 
the  type  of  the  Red  race ;  for  with  the  exception  of  some  sa 
cred  figures  probably  intended  to  denote  the  white  and  bearded 
Quetzalcoatl,  they  are  all  delineated  as  beardless.*  The  enor 
mous  size  of  the  nose,  which  it  is  difficult  to  suppose  ever  char 
acterized  any  people,  was  naturally  exaggerated  by  the  first 
artists,  in  consequence  of  the  retreating  forehead,  with  which 
it  was  accompanied.  The  custom  of  cranial  compression  was 
common  to  many  American  nations,  and  may  be  clearly  traced, 
not  only  to  the  barbarous,  but  civilized  races.  The  unusual 
forms  thus  given  to  the  skull  are  not  universally  the  same.  Thus 
Charlevoix  observes,  "  there  are  on  this  continent  some  nations, 
which  they  call  Flat-heads,  which  have,  in  fact,  their  foreheads 
very  flat,  and  the  top  of  their  heads  somewhat  lengthened.  This 
shape  is  not  the  work  of  nature :  it  is  the  mothers  who  give  it 
to  their  children,  as  soon  as  they  are  born.  For  this  end,  they 


*  This  is  the  case  also  with  the  sculptured  and  earthenware  figures 
found  in  the  mounds  of  the  United  States. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  275 

apply  to  their  foreheads,  and  the  back  part  of  their  heads,  two 
masses  of  clay,  or  of  some  other  heavy  matter,  which  they  bind 
by  little  and  little,  till  the  skull  has  taken  the  shape  they  desire 
to  give  it.  *  *  *  It  is  quite  the  reverse  with  certain  Al- 
gonquins  amongst  us,  named  Round-heads,  or  Bowl-heads, 
(Tetes  de  Boules,)  whom  I  have  mentioned  before,  for  they 
make  their  beauty  consist  in  having  their  heads  perfectly  round, 
and  mothers  take  care  also  very  early  to  give  them  this  shape."* 
Adair  describes  another  form  among  the  Choctaws  and  other 
southern  tribes.  "  The  Indians  flatten  their  heads,"  he  remarks, 
"  in  divers  forms,  but  it  is  chiefly  the  crown  of  the  head  they 
depress.  *  *  The  Choctaw  Indians  flatten  their  foreheads 
from  the  top  of  the  head  to  the  eyebrows,  with  a  small  bag  of 
sand ;  which  gives  them  a  hideous  appearance,  as  the  forehead 
naturally  shoots  upwards,  according  as  it  is  flattened ;  thus  the 
rising  of  the  nose,  instead  of  being  equi-distant  from  the  begin 
ning  of  the  chin  to  that  of  the  hair,  is  by  their  wild  mechanism 
placed  a  great  deal  nearer  to  the  one  and  further  from  the  other." 
The  same  practice,  he  adds,  prevails  among  the  tribes  "  around 
South  Carolina  and  all  the  way  to  New  Mexico."-^  Accord 
ingly  we  find  that  the  Waxsaws  and  Natchez  distorted  the  nat 
ural  shape  of  the  head  by  similar  artificial  means.J  The  Flat- 
head  tribes  west  of  the  Rocky  mountains  and  on  the  Columbia 
river  have  carried  the  same  custom  to  a  frightful  extent ;  their 
heads  present  an  inclined  plane  from  the  crown  to  the  upper 
part  of  the  nose, — a  peculiarity  which  is  produced  in  the  fol- 

*  Voyage,  vol.  i.  pp.  83,  84. 

f  Adair's  Hist.  N.  Am.  Indians,  p.  8. 

J  Morton's  Crania,  pp.  161.  162. 


276  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

lowing  manner.  "  Immediately  after  birth,  the  infant  is  placed 
in  a  kind  of  oblong  cradle,  formed  like  a  trough,  with  moss  un 
der  it.  One  end,  on  which  the  head  reposes,  is  more  elevated 
than  the  rest.  A  padding  is  then  placed  on  the  forehead,  with 
a  piece  of  cedar  bark  over  it,  and  by  means  of  cords  passed 
through  small  holes,  on  each  side  of  the  cradle,  the  padding  is 
pressed  against  the  head.  It  is  kept  in  this  manner  upwards 
of  a  year.  *  *  When  released  from  this  inhuman  process, 
the  head  is  perfectly  flattened,  and  the  upper  part  of  it  seldom 
exceeds  an  inch  in  thickness."* 

The  Charibs  compressed  the  heads  of  their  infants  by  boards 
and  ligatures,  and  rendered  the  forehead  so  flat,  "  that  they 
could  see  perpendicularly  when  standing  erect  ;"f  and  the 
Arrowauks  practised  the  same  custom,  endeavoring,  however, 
to  give  the  crown  of  the  head  a  greater  elongation. 

In  South  America,  according  to  Condamine,  "  the  appella 
tion  Omaguas,  in  the  language  of  Peru,  as  well  as  Cambevas 
in  that  of  Brazil,  given  to  the  same  people  by  the  Portuguese 
of  Para,  signifies  Flat-heads.  For  they  have  the  whimsical 
custom  of  pressing  between  two  plates  the  forehead  of  their 
newly  born  children,  in  order  to  give  them  this  singular  shape, 
and  make  them,  as  they  say,  resemble  the  full  moon."  J  "  Among 
the  variety  of  singular  customs  prevailing  in  these  nations," 
says  Ulloa,  "  one  cannot  help  being  surprised  at  the  odd  taste 


*  Ross  Cox's  Adventures  on  the  Columbia  River,  pp.  69,  166. 
Lewis  and  Clarke,  vol.  ii.  p.  131. 

f  Sheldon,  in  Arch.  Am.,  vol.  i.  p.  372.  Lawrence's  Lectures, 
p.  237. 

J  Condamine,  in  Pinkerton,  vol.  xiv.  p.  226. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  277 

of  the  Omaguas,  a  people  otherwise  so  sensible,  who,  to  render 
their  children  what  they  call  beautiful,  flatten  the  fore  and  hind 
parts  of  the  head,  which  gives  them  a  monstrous  appearance ; 
for  the  forehead  grows  upwards,  in  proportion  as  it  is  flattened, 
so  that  the  distance  from  the  rising  of  the  nose  to  the  beginning 
of  the  hair,  exceeds  that  from  the  lower  part  of  the  nose  to  the 
bottom  of  the  chin.  And  the  same  is  observable  in  the  back 
part  of  the  head :  the  sides  also  are  very  narrow  from  a  natural 
consequence  of  the  pressure ;  as  thus,  the  parts  pressed,  instead 
of  spreading  conformable  to  the  common  course  of  nature,  grow 
upwards.  This  practice  is  of  great  antiquity  among  them,  and 
kept  up  so  strictly,  that  they  make  a  jest  of  other  nations  call 
ing  them  calabash-heads.  In  order  to  give  children  this  beau 
tiful  flatness,  the  upper  part  of  the  head  is  put,  soon  after  their 
birth,  betwixt  two  pieces  of  board,  and  this  is  repeated  from 
time  to  time,  till  they  have  brought  the  head  to  the  fashionable 
form."*  The  Mantas,  consisting  of  several  tribes  subdued  by 
the  Incas,  are  described  by  Garcillassa  de  la  Vega,  as  having 
their  heads  very  much  deformed.  "  As  soon  as  their  children 
were  born,  they  applied  to  the  front  of  the  head  and  the  back 
of  the  neck  two  small  boards,  between  which  they  compressed 
the  head,  until  they  had  arrived  to  the  age  of  five  years ;  and 
by  these  means  the  head  became  flat  and  very  long"-\  There 
are  various  authorities  to  show  that  artificial  pressure  of  the 
cranium  was  common  to  many  Peruvian  nations,  and  none 
more  satisfactory  than  the  decree  of  the  Synod  of  Lima,  (passed 
1585,)  cited  by  Blumenbach,  which  prohibited  the  custom, — at 


*  Ulloa,  vol.  i.  p.  411. 

f  "  Sur  le  front,  et  sur  le  chignon  de  cdli." — Fr.  Trans.,  1737. 


278  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

the  same  time  alluding  to  it  as  formerly  universal  in  Peru.* 
Dr.  Morton  has  traced  it  likewise  into  Venezuela  and  Nicara 
gua.  The  same  learned  naturalist  in  his  researches  into  Amer 
ican  craniology  has  arrived  at  the  conclusions,  that  the  Ameri 
can  nations,  excepting  the  Polar  tribes,  are  of  one  race  and  one 
species,  but  of  two  great  families,  which  resemble  each  other  in 
physical,  but  differ  in  intellectual  character,  and  that  the  cra 
nial  remains  discovered  in  the  mounds,  from  Peru  to  Wisconsin, 
belong  to  the  same  race,  and  probably  to  the  Toltecan  family. 
The  skulls  from  the  mounds  are  described  as  being  flattened  on 
the  occiput  and  frontal  bones,  "  in  such  manner  as  to  give  the 
whole  head  a  sugar-loaf  or  conical  form,  whence  also  their 
great  lateral  diameter  and  their  narrowness  from  back  to  front," 
and  the  result  of  his  investigation  seems  to  be,  that  this  peculiar 
configuration,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Mexican  heads  represented 
in  their  sculptures  and  paintings,  appears  to  result  in  part  from 
the  application  of  mechanical  pressure. 

But  there  are  other  crania  brought  by  Mr.  Pentland  from 
Peru,  which  it  is  supposed  belong  to  an  ancient  and  extinct 
race.  They  are  remarkable  for  their  unusually  great  length 
and  narrowness ;  the  face  is  very  projecting,  the  forehead  re 
treating,  so  that  the  facial  angle  is  smaller  than  in  any  known 
race  of  men ;  the  os  frontis  is  continued  far  backwards  towards 
the  vertex,  and  is  very  long,  narrow  and  flat.  By  the  discovery 
of  these  skulls  the  interesting  question  has  been  presented  to 
naturalists,  whether  they  are  of  a  natural  form,  or  altered  by  art. 
Professor  Tiedemann  says, "  a  careful  examination  of  these  skulls 

*  Lawrence's  Lectures,  p.  237.  Ruschenberger.  Morton's  Cra 
nia,  p.  147. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  279 

has  convinced  me  that  their  peculiar  shape  cannot  be  owing  to 
artificial  pressure.  The  great  elongation  of  the  face,  and  the 
directionof  the  plane  of  the  occipital  bone  are  not  to  be  recon 
ciled  with  this  opinion,  and  therefore  we  must  conclude  that 
the  peculiarity  of  shape  depends  on  a  natural  conformation.  If 
this  view  of  the  subject  be  correct,  it  follows  that  these  skulls 
belonged  to  a  race  of  men  now  extinct,  and  which  differed  from 
any  now  existing."  But  it  is  clear  that  the  habit  of  mechani 
cal  compression  of  the  head  was  common  to  many  American 
nations,  and  prevalent  in  Peru.  "  There  is  no  race  on  the 
globe,"  says  Humboldt,  "  in  which  the  frontal  bone  is  more 
depressed  backwards,  than  the  American."  *  "  The  cus 

tom  of  flattening  the  head  had  its  origin,  in  the  idea  that  beauty 
consists  in  such  a  form  of  the  frontal  bone  as  to  characterize  the 
race  in  a  decided  manner."  In  fact  Waldeck  saw  in  Yucatan 
profiles  of  the  present  Indian  race,  similar  to  those  sculptured  at 
Palenque  ;*  those  ancient  profiles,  he  says,  are  at  an  angle  of  74°, 
which  must  be  attributed  to  the  custom  of  flattening  the  head. 
It  is  true  these  differ  in  form  from  those  of  Peru  under  consider 
ation,  but  the  alteration  by  compression  has  been  as  great.  In 
view  of  the  various  processes  which  were  used,  the  nature  of 
the  substances  which  were  applied,  and  the  parts  which  were 
compressed,  it  does  not  seem  improbable  that  the  singularly 
shaped  Peruvian  skulls  may  have  been  altered  by  artificial 
means.  The  tendency  of  the  cranium  to  lateral  expansion  under 
a  pressure  from  the  front  and  back,  which  does  not  appear  to 
have  taken  place  in  these  heads,  may  have  been  prevented  by 
ligatures  or  other  mechanical  applications  to  the  sides  of  the 

*  Voyage  Pittoresque,  p.  24. 


280  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

head.  The  testimony  of  Dr.  Pritchard  is  strongly  to  this 
point ;  "  it  is  more  probable,"  he  says,  "  that  the  ancient  skulls 
of  Titicaca  owed  their  strange  configuration  to  a  process,  which 
we  know  is  capable  of  explaining  the  phenomena,  than  that 
they  constituted  an  original  race,  a  circumstance  of  which  we 
have  no  other  evidence  than  that  derived  from  the  shape  of  the 
cranium.*  Professor  Scouler  has  given  the  sketch  of  an  infant 
skull  of  one  of  the  Columbian  tribes,  which  is  as  much  elongated 
as  the  skulls  brought  by  Mr.  Pentland  from  Titicaca."f  It  thus 
appears  that  there  are  no  decided  and  general  characteristics  yet 
clearly  ascertained,  which  separate  any  of  the  ancient  civilized 
nations  from  the  great  American  family, — nor  any  peculiar  cra 
nial  conformations,  which  might  not  be  justly  attributed  to  the 
prevalent  custom  of  altering  the  head  by  mechanical  applica 
tions,  so  as  to  produce  that  form,  which,  according  to  aboriginal 
notions,  possessed  the  highest  degree  of  beauty. 

In  the  prosecution  of  our  inquiry  as  to  the  number  of  prim 
itive  races,  it  becomes  necessary  to  examine  in  the  next  place, 
in  what  points  of  physical  appearance  the  American  and  Mon 
golian  races  are  assimilated. 

The  Mongolian  variety.  The  Mongols  have  exercised  an 
important  influence  in  the  affairs  of  Oriental  Asia,  having  at 
different  periods  subjected  Hindostan,  Siam,  Thibet  and  China. 
Hordes  of  this  race  roam  over  the  vast  regions  of  Siberia,  and 
are  found  wrandering  from  China  to  the  banks  of  the  Dneiper  ;| 
and  it  is  probable  that  in  ages  far  beyond  the  scope  of  authen- 

*  The  hair  upon  these  heads  certainly  establishes  one  point  of 
connection  with  the  Red  race,  for  it  is  uniformly  lank,  long  and  black, 
f  Pritchard's  Physical  Researches,  vol.  i.  pp.  316,  320. 
{  Dr.  Clarke's  Travels,  part  i.  pp.  155,  159. 


HISTORY   OF  THE  RED  RACE.  281 

tic  history  they  have  been  distributed  still  more  widely.  Con 
siderable  confusion  has  been  occasioned  by  the  incorrect  appli 
cation  of  the  term  Tartars  to  the  Turkish  race,  an  appellation 
which  is  now  too  well  settled  to  admit  of  change.  It  appears 
to  have  been  originally  applied  by  Asiatic  writers  to  the  Mon 
gol  race,  and  when  the  Turkish  tribes  were  subdued  by  them, 
the  name  passed  from  the  princes,  who  were  Mongols,  to  their 
subjects.  "  Remusat,  who,  with  Klaproth,  had  determined  the 
original  identity  of  the  Mongols  and  Tartars,  proposed  to  con 
fine  the  latter  appellation  to  the  former  race.  But  in  the  utter 
commixture  of  the  northern  tribes,  to  use  Tartar  as  a  generic 
name,  would  lead  but  to  further  confusion."*  The  Tartars,  as 
the  term  is  now  understood,  belong  to  the  Caucasian  family,  and 
in  their  physical  characteristics  they  are  distinguished  by  an  oval 
head,  a  fresh,  white  complexion,  and  great  beauty  and  symmetry 
of  countenance.!  The  Mongol  physiognomy  is  widely  different, 
and  is  nearly  allied  to  the  American ;  the  complexion  is  describ 
ed  by  most  physiologists  as  of  an  olive  or  yellow  color,  but  as 
will  be  seen,  there  are  some  tribes  in  Siberia  of  a  regular  cop 
per  color.  Commencing  on  the  western  shore  of  Behring's 
straits,  we  find  the  Tchutski,  who  are  divided  into  two  classes, 
the  Sedentary  and  the  Wandering.  They  may  be  clearly  iden 
tified  with  the  American  family,  as  well  by  their  language^  as 
by  their  manners,  customs  and  appearance,  and  it  is  thought 
they  are  of  American  origin.  They  speak  the  same  language, 

*  Travels  by  Rose,    Ehrenburgh  and  Von  Humboldt,  in   For. 
Q,uar.  Rev.,  No.  40. 

t  Tooke,  vol.  i.  p.  280 ;  vol.  ii.  p.  44. 

J  Arch.  Am.,  vol.  ii.  p.  10.     Cochrane's  Pedestrian  Tour,  pp.203, 

198,  274. 

36 


282  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

however,  as  the  Koriacks,  or  Koroeiki,  a  tribe  in  their  vicinity. 
The  resemblance  in  their  customs  to  those  of  the  Americans  is 
not  peculiar  to  this  nation,  but  is  common  to  many  others  of 
Siberia,  and  no  argument  therefore  in  favor  of  their  American 
origin  can  be  drawn  from  that  circumstance.*  "  From  what  I 
have  seen  of  the  Koriacks,"  says  Cochrane,  "  I  have  no  doubt  of 
their  being  of  the  same  tribe  as  the  Tchutski ;  they  have  the 
same  features,  manners  and  customs,  and  the  same  language." 
According  to  a  Russian  author  of  great  authority,  "  the  lan 
guage  of  the  Tchutski  is  derived  from  that  of  the  Koreki,  and 
differs  from  it  in  dialect  only  ;"f  i(  they  agree  in  most  of  their 
customs  and  habits  with  the  Kamtschatdales,"  and  "  the  Tchutski 
should  be  accounted  a  race  of  the  Koreki."  The  Koriacks  are 
also  divided  into  two  tribes;  the  wandering  family  are  of 
smaller  stature.  They  are  described  as  having  long  black  hair, 
small  eyes,  a  short  nose,  and  large  mouth.J  Strahlenburgh  says 
that  they  have  no  beards,  but  only  a  few  loose  hairs  scattered 
over  their  chins.  "The  Lutorzi,"  he  adds,  (the  Tchutski?) 
"  who  live  eastward  of  the  former,  and  towards  the  coast  of  the 
main  ocean,  were  as  to  shape,  customs  and  language,  the  very 
same  with  the  Koroeiki,  except  that  they  made  their  habitations 
under  ground."  "  They  are  beardless  like  the  Laplanders, 
Samoides  and  Ostiacs ;  for  in  the  first  place  they  have  naturally 
very  little  hair  about  the  mouth,  and  what  little  they  have, 
they  pluck  out,  as  do  also  the  Yakuti,  Tungusi  and  Kalmucks"^ 

*  See  Plescheef,  pp.  49,  52.     Sauer's  Expedition,  pp.  254,  257, 
322.     Pennant,  vol.  i.  p.  264.     Leclyard,  246. 

f  Krasheninicoff's  Hist.  Kamtschatka,  trans,  by  Grieve,  p.  47. 

J  Ibid.  p.  222. 

§  Strahlenburgh,  appendix,  pp.  458,  396. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  283 

The  Kamtschatdales  are  swarthy,  of  a  small  stature,  have 
straight  black  hair,  high  cheek  bones,  oblique  eyes  and  scanty 
beard.  It  has  been  supposed  of  this  people,  as  well  as  of  the 
Tchutski,  that  they  were  of  American  origin ;  an  idea  which 
Captain  Cochrane  pronounces  ridiculous.* 

The  Yakuts  are  of  a  low  stature,  with  long  black  hair,  but 
little  beard,  and  "  their  complexion  is  a  light  copper-color."f 
The  Mantchoos  belong  to  the  Tongoo,  or  Tungusi  race,  and 
resemble  them  in  appearance  and  features  ;J  and  the  latter,  be 
sides  the  oblique  eye,  black  hair  and  slender  beard  of  the  Mon 
gols,  are  described  as  (( copper-colored. "§ 

The  Burretti,  the  Cal mucks,  and  the  Mongols  near  Bogdo, 
are  all  described  as  of  a  complexion  varying  from  a  yellow  or 
swarthy  hue  to  a  brownish  red  or  copper-color,  with  small 
beards,  black  hair,  and  oblique  eyes.|| 

The  Chinese,  Japanese,  Siamese  and  other  inhabitants  of 
Indo-China,  all  present  the  same  general  physical  type,  modi 
fied  in  various  degrees,  but  conforming  in  a  great  measure  to 
the  characters  of  the  Mongols ;  and  the  same  race  appears  to 
have  penetrated  into  Thibet,  Bootan,  and  Nepaul.H  The  close 
analogy  which  exists  between  the  Mongol  and  American  fam 
ilies,  notwithstanding  certain  diversities  which  have  been  ob 
served,  cannot  be  better  illustrated  than  by  the  testimony  of 


*  Pedestrian  Journey,  pp.  293,  294.  f  Ibid.  p.  327. 

J  Coxe's  Russ.  Disc.,  p.  197. 
§  Cochrane,  p.  140,  141.     Ledyard,  p.  243. 
0  Plescheef,  p.  67.     Tooke,  vol.  ii.  p.  282.     Cochrane,  p.  95. 
T[  Crawfurd's  Siam,  vol.  ii.  p.  3.     Cuvier,  Regne  Animal,  vol.  i. 
p.  54. 


284  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

travellers,  and  of  those  who  have  had  personal  opportunities  for 
direct  comparison. 

"  There  is  a  great  resemblance  in  feature,"  says  Mr.  An 
drews,  "between  these  Indians  along  the  banks  of  the  Rio 
Chico  in  South  America,  and  some  of  the  people  I  have  seen 
in  the  east,  especially  the  mixed  breed  of  Chinese  and  Malay 
in  Java.  The  high  cheek  bone,  sharp  angular  eyes,  and  small 
beards,  agree."* 

"  I  shall  only  remark  further,"  observes  Mr.  Bell,  "  that 
from  all  the  accounts  I  have  heard  and  read,  of  the  natives  of 
Canada,  there  is  no  nation  in  the  world  which  they  so  much 
resemble  as  the  Tongoos."f 

"  The  American  race,"  says  Humboldt,  "  has  a  striking  re 
semblance  to  the  Mongol  nations,  which  include  those  formerly 
called  Huns,  Kulans,  and  Kalmucks." 

"  The  Viceroy  of  Brazil  retains  a  dozen  of  the  native  Indians 
in  his  service,  as  rowers  of  his  barge.  We  observed  the  Tartar 
or  Chinese  features,  particularly  the  eye,  strongly  marked  in 
the  countenances  of  these  Indians.  The  copper  tinge  was  rather 
deeper  than  the  darkest  of  the  Chinese,  but  their  beards,  being 
mostly  confined  to  the  upper  lip,  and  the  point  of  the  chin,  to 
gether  with  their  strong  black  hair,  bore  a  very  near  resem 
blance.'^ 

Chinese  colonists  have  been  imported  into  Brazil,  and  afford 
a  valuable  opportunity  of  contrasting  their  appearance  with  the 
native  Americans.  "  The  physiognomy  of  the  Chinese  colon- 

*  Andrews'  Travels  in  S.  Am.,  p.  76. 
f  Bell's  Journey,  p.  176. 
J  Barrow's  Travels,  p.  30. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  285 

ists,"  say  Spix  and  Martius,  "  was  particularly  interesting  to 
us,  and  was  in  the  sequel  still  more  so,  because  we  thought  we 
could  perceive  in  them,  the  fundamental  lines  which  are  re 
marked  in  the  Indians.  The  figure  of  the  Chinese  is  indeed 
rather  more  slender,  the  forehead  broader,  the  lips  thinner  and 
more  alike,  and  the  features  in  general  more  delicate  and  mild, 
than  those  of  the  American  who  lives  in  the  woods ;  yet  the 
small,  not  oblong,  but  roundish,  angular,  rather  pointed  head, 
the  broad  crown,  the  prominent  sinus  frontales,  the  low  fore 
head,  the  pointed  and  projecting  cheek  bones,  the  oblique  posi 
tion  of  the  small  narrow  eyes,  the  blunt,  proportionally  small, 
broad  flat  nose,  the  thinness  of  the  hair  on  the  chin,  and  the 
other  parts  of  the  body,  the  long  smooth  black  hair  of  the  head, 
the  yellowish  or  bright  reddish  tint  of  the  skin,  are  all  charac 
teristics  common  to  the  physiognomy  of  both  races.  The  mis 
trustful,  cunning,  and,  as  it  is  said,  often  thievish  character,  and 
the  expression  of  a  mean  way  of  thinking,  and  mechanical  dis 
position  appear  in  both,  in  the  same  manner.  In  comparing 
the  Mongol  physiognomy  with  the  American,  the  observer  has 
opportunity  enough  to  find  traces  of  the  series  of  developments, 
through  which  the  eastern  Asiatic  had  to  pass,  under  the  influ 
ence  of  the  climate,  in  order  to  be  transformed  into  an  Ameri 
can.  In  these  anthropological  investigations  we  arrive  at  the 
remarkable  result,  that  certain  characteristics,  which  consti 
tute  the  principal  difference  of  the  races,  do  not  easily  pass  into 
others,  whereas,  those  which  depend  only  upon  more  or  less, 
gradually  vanish  or  degenerate,  through  a  series  of  different 
gradations."* 

*  Travels  in  Brazil,  vol.  i.  p.  277. 


286  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

Of  the  Chiriguanos,  a  Peruvian  tribe,  Mr.  Temple  says, 
"  They  are  of  a  copper-color,  approaching  to  sallowness,  with 
long  shining  black  hair,  and  as  the  Indians  of  South  America 
generally  are,  without  beards.  Had  I  seen  them  in  Europe  I 
should  have  supposed  them  to  be  Chinese,  so  closely  do  they 
resemble  those  people  in  their  features."* 

"  In  some  points  of  physiology,"  remarks  Mr.  Davis  of  the 
Chinese,  "  the  people  whom  we  describe  bear  a  considerable 
resemblance  to  the  North  American  Indians.  There  is  the  same 
lank,  black,  and  shining  hair,  the  same  obliquity  of  the  eyes, 
and  eyebrows  turned  upwards  at  the  outer  extremities,  and  a 
corresponding  thinness,  and  tufty  growth  of  beard.  The  Chi 
nese,  too,  is  distinguished  by  a  nearly  total  absence  of  hair  from 
the  surface  of  the  body.  *  *  *  We  may  remark  here  that 
the  Esquimaux,  as  represented  in  the  plates  to  Captain  Lyon's 
Voyage,  bear  a  very  striking  resemblance  to  the  Tau-kea,  or 
*  boat-people '  of  the  coast  of  China,  who  are  treated  by  the 
government  as  a  different  race  from  those  on  shore,  and  not 
allowed  to  intermarry  with  them.  Whether  the  miserable  in 
habitants  of  the  cold  regions  to  the  north,  have  thus  migrated 
southward,  along  the  coast,  at  some  former  periods,  in  search  of 
a  more  genial  climate,  must  be  a  mere  matter  of  conjecture,  in 
the  absence  of  positive  proof."f 

Mr.  Ledyard,  who  had  personal  opportunities  of  observing 
the  peculiar  physiognomy  of  the  American  Indians,  and  who 
had  travelled  through  Siberia,  is  still  more  positive  in  his  asser 
tions,  as  to  the  resemblance  between  the  Americans  and  Mon 
gols.  His  testimony  being  of  the  highest  kind,  deduced  from 

*  Temple's  Travels  in  Peru,  vol.  ii.  p.  184. 
t  The  Chinese,  by  I.  F.  Davis,  vol.  i.  p.  251. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  287 

his  own  personal  examination,  we  shall  quote  extensively  from 
his  remarks  upon  this  subject,  premising  that  in  his  use  of  the 
term  Tartar,  he  applied  it  to  all  those  tribes  possessing  the 
Mongol  physical  characteristics.  In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Jefferson, 
from  Siberia,*  he  says,  "  I  shall  never  be  able,  without  seeing 
you  in  person,  and  perhaps  not  then,  to  inform  you  how  univer 
sally  and  circumstantially  the  Tartars  resemble  the  aborigines 
of  America.  They  are  the  same  people — the  most  ancient  and 
the  most  numerous  of  any  other;  and  had  not  a  small  sea  di 
vided  them,  they  would  all  have  been  still  known  by  the  same 
name."  "  I  know  of  no  people  among  whom  there  is 

such  a  uniformity  of  features,  (except  the  Chinese,  the  Jews, 
and  the  Negroes,)  as  among  the  Asiatic  Tartars.  They  are 
distinguished  indeed  by  different  tribes,  but  this  is  only  nominal. 
Nature  has  not  acknowledged  the  distinction,  but,  on  the  con 
trary,  marked  them,  wherever  found,  with  the  indisputable 
stamp  of  Tartars.  Whether  in  Nova  Zembla,  Mongolia, 
Greenland,  or  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  they  are  the  same 
people,  forming  the  most  numerous,  and,  if  we  must  except  the 
Chinese,  the  most  ancient  nation  of  the  globe :  but  I,  for  my 
self,  do  not  except  the  Chinese,  because  I  have  no  doubt  of  their 
being  of  the  same  family."  *  *  "  I  am  certain  that  all 
the  people  you  call  red  people  on  the  continent  of  America, 
and  on  the  continents  of  Europe  and  Asia  as  far  south  as 
the  southern  parts  of  China,  are  all  one  people,  by  whatever 
names  distinguished,  and  that  the  best  general  name  would 
be  Tartar.  I  suspect  that  all  red  people  are  of  the  same 
family."  And  again :  "  With  respect  to  the  national  or  gene- 

*  Spark's  Life  of  Ledyard,  pp.66.  201,  246,  255. 


288  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

alogical  connection  which  the  remarkable  affinity  of  person 
and  manners  bespeaks  between  the  Indians  on  this  and  on 
the  American  continent,  I  declare  my  opinion  to  be,  without 
the  least  scruple  and  with  the  most  absolute  conviction,  that 
the  Indians  on  the  one  and  on  the  other  are  the  same  people" 

The  Malays.  In  the  vast  insular  regions  of  the  Pacific, 
Indian  and  Southern  oceans,  it  is  supposed  several  distinct  vari 
eties  of  the  human  family  have  been  traced. 

That  class  which  resembles  the  Negroes,  and  which,  to 
gether  with  its  various  intermixtures,  has  been  found  inhabiting 
New  Holland,  New  Guinea,  New  Caledonia,  Van  Diemen's 
Land,  the  Andaman,  Philippine,  Molucca,  Fejee  and  other 
neighboring  islands,  we  have  already  adverted  to.  The  other 
comprises  all  those  nations  denominated  Malays  and  Polyne 
sians,  and  which,  from  a  general  and  striking  analogy  observa 
ble  in  their  appearance,  customs  and  language,  have  usually 
been  arranged  by  physiologists  under  the  human  variety  entitled 
the  Malay.  They  occupy  the  Malayan  peninsula,  Sumatra, 
Borneo,  Java  and  other  East  Indian  islands,  and  all  those  remote 
groups  of  the  Pacific  extending  to  Easter  island  near  the  Amer 
ican  continent,  and  from  the  Sandwich  islands  on  the  north,  to 
New  Zealand  in  the  Southern  ocean.  They  may  perhaps  be 
justly  divided  into  two  orders,  the  Malays  proper  and  the  Poly 
nesians. 

The  Malays,  in  the  opinion  of  Cuvier,  are  not  easily  referrible 
to  either  of  the  three  great  races,  but  he  adds, "  Can  they  be  clear 
ly  distinguished  from  their  neighbors,  the  Caucasian  Hindoos  and 
the  Mongolian  Chinese  ?  As  for  us,  we  confess  we  cannot  dis 
cover  any  sufficient  characteristics  in  them  for  that  purpose."41 

*  Regne  Animal,  vol.  i.  p.  55,  Am.  Edit. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  289 

M.  Lesson,  also,  who  has  bestowed  great  research  upon  these 
insular  nations,  has  concluded  that  the  Malays  are  a  mixed  race 
of  Mongols  and  Indo-Caucasians.* 

The  complexion  of  the  Malays  is  brown,  from  a  light  tawny 
or  yellow  hue  to  a  deep  bronze ;  the  hair  is  long,  lank  and 
black,  the  beard  weak ;  their  eyes  are  black  and  oblique,  the 
nose  full  and  broad  towards  the  apex,  the  mouth  large,  the 
bones  of  the  face  large  and  prominent,  and  the  head  narrow  and 
compressed.  Their  persons  are  generally  below  the  middle  size 
and  somewhat  robust.f 

The  real  Polynesian  nations  are  described  generally  as  of  a 
dark  complexion,  varying  from  olive  through  shades  of  reddish 
brown  to  a  copper-color,  with  long  black  hair,  straight  or  curl 
ing,  and  scanty  beards.  J  "  The  general  complexion  of  both  men 
and  women  (of  the  Polynesian  tribes)  is  a  dark  coppery  brown, 
but  it  varies  from  the  lightest  hue  of  copper  to  a  rich  mahogany 
or  chocolate,  and  in  some  cases  almost  to  black."§  Sometimes 
features  are  observed  which  approach  to  the  Caucasian  variety. 

The  natives  of  the  Sandwich  islands  are  described  by  Mr. 
Ellis  as  "in  general,  rather  above  the  middle  stature,  well 
formed,  with  fine  muscular  limbs,  open  countenances,  and  fea 
tures  frequently  resembling  those  of  Europeans."  "  Their  hair 
is  black  or  brown,  strong,  and  frequently  curly.  Their  com- 

*  M.  Lesson,  Voyage  du  Coquille,  Zool.,  p.  43,  cited  in  Morton's 
Crania  Americana,  p.  56. 

f  Marsden's  Hist,  of  Sumatra,  pp.  38,  45.  Malte  Brun,  vol.  iii.  p. 
414.  Lawrence's  Lectures,  p.  367. 

t  Ellis's  Poly.  Res.,  vol.  i.  pp.  73,  74.  Marshall's  Voyage,  in  Mav., 
vol.  ix.  p.  157.  Porter's  Voy.,pp.  114,  111,  96. 

§  King  and  Fitzroy,  vol.  ii.  p.  570. 

37 


290  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

plexion  is  neither  yellow  like  the  Malays,  nor  red  like  the 
American  Indians,  but  a  kind  of  olive  and  sometimes  reddish 
brown."* 

Mr.  Ledyard  remarks  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Society 
islands,  that  "they  are  tall,  strong,  well  limbed,  and  fairly 
shaped."  "  Their  complexion  is  a  clear  olive  or  brunette,  and 
the  whole  contour  of  the  face  quite  handsome,  except  the  nose 
which  is  generally  a  little  inclined  to  be  flat.  Their  hair  is 
black  and  coarse.  The  men  have  beards,  but  pluck  the  greatest 
part  of  them  out."f 

Of  the  Otaheitans,  Captain  Fitzroy  says,  "  To  my  eye  they 
differed  from  the  aborigines  of  southern  South  America,  in  the 
form  of  their  heads,  in  the  width  or  height  of  their  cheek  bones, 
in  their  eyebrows,  in  their  color,  and  most  essentially  in  the  ex 
pression  of  their  countenances.  High  foreheads,  denned  and 
prominent  eyebrows,  with  a  rich  bronze  color,  give  an  Asiatic 
expression  to  the  upper  part  of  their  faces  ;  but  the  flat  noses 
(carefully  flattened  in  infancy)  and  thick  lips,  are  like  those  of 
the  South  Americans.";); 

The  natives  of  the  Pelew  islands  are  of  a  deep  copper-color, 
with  long  black  hair  and  scanty  beard.  They  are  well  made 
and  of  middle  stature.  The  inhabitants  of  Easter  island  were  a 
handsome  race  with  oval  countenances,  jet  black  hair,  scanty 
beard,  and  black  eyes. 

Here  again,  the  resemblance  between  the  Malays  and  Poly 
nesians  and  Americans  has  attracted  the  attention  of  those  who 
have  possessed  the  opportunity  of  comparing  their  physical  ap- 

*  Missionary  Tour  through  Hawaii,  p.  22.      f  Ledyard,  p.  62. 
%  King  and  Fitzroy,  vol.  ii.  p.  509.     Wilson's  Voyage,  in  Mavor, 
vol.  ix.  pp.  15,  64.    JBeechey's  Voy.,  p.  43. 


HISTORY   OF  THE   RED  RACE.  291 

pearance.  Of  the  Indians  of  Acapulco,  in  Mexico,  Captain  Basil 
Hall  observes,  "  Their  features  and  color  partake  somewhat  of 
the  Malay  character ;  their  foreheads  are  broad  and  square ; 
their  eyes  small  and  not  deep  seated  ;  their  cheek  bones  prom 
inent,  and  their  heads  covered  with  black  straight  hair ;  their 
stature  about  the  medium  standard,  their  frame  compact  and 
well  made."* 

"  I  had  not  long  since,"  says  Mr.  Smith,  "  a  striking  proof 
of  the  visible  resemblance  between  the  figure,  countenance,  and 
whole  appearance  of  the  Malay  and  the  American  Indian.  Mr. 
Van  Polanen,  late  minister  from  the  late  Republic  of  Holland 
to  the  United  States,  and  afterwards  holding  a  high  office  at  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  in  the  island  of  Java,  on  his  return 
from  the  East,  fixed  his  residence  in  Princeton.  He  brought 
with  him  two  Malay  servants.  As  they  were  one  day  stand 
ing  in  his  door,  there  happened  to  pass  by  two  or  three  Indians 
belonging  to  a  small  tribe,  which  still  holds  some  lands  in  the 
state  of  New  Jersey.  When  they  approached  the  door,  the 
attention  of  each  party  was  strongly  arrested  by  the  appearance 
of  the  other.  They  contemplated  one  another  with  evident 
marks  of  surprise ;  and  by  their  signs  and  gestures  discovered 
their  mutual  astonishment  at  seeing  such  a  likeness  to  them 
selves.  Every  person,  indeed,  who  sees  these  Malays  and  is  ac 
quainted  with  the  countenance  of  our  native  Indians,  is  forcibly 
struck  with  the  resemblance.  The  chief  difference  between 
them  is,  that  the  features  of  the  Malays  are  more  soft,  the  cheek 

*  Voyage  to  South  Am.,  vol.  ii.  p.  175.  See  also  Dr.  Lang's 
View  of  the  Polynesian  Nations,  p.  185. 


292  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE   ORIGIN  AND 

bone  not  quite  so  much  raised,  and  the  outline  of  the  face  some 
what  more  circular."* 

"  My  first  impression  upon  seeing  several  New  Zealanders 
in  their  native  dress  and  dirtiness,  was  that  they  were  a  race  in 
termediate  between  the  Otaheitans  and  Fuegians,  and  I  after 
wards  found  that  Mr.  Stokes  and  others  saw  many  precise  re 
semblances  to  the  Fuegians ;  while  every  one  admitted  their 
likeness  to  the  Otaheitans.  To  me  they  all  seem  to  be  one  and 
the  same  race  'of  men,  altered  by  climate,  habits,  and  food,  but 
descended  from  the  same  original  stock."  And  again,  "  a  word 
about  the  inhabitants  and  I  leave  the  Keelings  (islands).  No 
material  difference  was  detected  by  me  between  the  Malays  on 
these  islands,  and  the  natives  of  Otaheite  and  New  Zealand.  I 
do  not  mean  to  assert  that  there  were  not  numbers  of  men  at 
each  of  those  islands,  to  whom  I  could  not  trace  resemblances, 
(setting  individual  features  aside)  at  the  Keelings.  I  merely 
say  that  there  was  not  one  individual  among  the  two  hundred 
Malays  I  saw  there,  whom  I  could  have  distinguished  from  a 
Polynesian  islander,  had  I  seen  him  in  the  Pacific."! 

Having  thus  exhibited  some  of  the  facts  which  tend  to  in 
dicate  that  the  number  of  original  races  may  justly  be  restricted 
to  three,  the  white,  the  red,  and  the  black,  and  that  the  Amer 
ican,  Malay,  Polynesian,  and  Mongolian  nations  are  members 
of  the  red  race,  and  retain  in  various  degrees  the  characters  of 
its  original  type,  it  is  necessary  next  to  inquire  into  what  other 
countries  this  ancient  family  may  be  traced. 

\ 
*  Smith's  Essay,  p.  217,  note. 

f  King  and  Fitzroy,  vol.  ii.  p.  567.    Ibid.  vol.  ii.  pp.  635,  636. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  BED  RACE.  293 

The  Scythians  were  apparently  a  Mongol  tribe ;  the  physi 
cal  description  given  of  them  by  Hippocrates,  who  speaks  of 
their  scanty  growth  of  hair  and  other  peculiarities,  according  to 
Niebuhr,  is  conclusive  upon  this  point.  Hippocrates  considered 
them  as  a  distinct  race,  and  remarked  the  universal  resemblance 
of  all  the  Scythians,  a  character  which  marks  likewise  the 
American  family.* 

Humboldt  has  traced  some  analogies  in  the  general  charac 
ter  of  the  human  figures  in  the  Mexican  picture-writings,  to 
some  of  those  which  have  been  preserved  on  the  Etruscan  mon 
uments,  and  considers  their  dwarfish  size,  and  the  great  large 
ness  of  the  head,  as  peculiarities  to  be  observed  also  in  the 
Etruscan  reliefs.  The  description  given  by  Sir  William  Gell, 
of  the  men  represented  upon  the  walls  of  the  tombs  at  Tarqui- 
nii,  corresponds  in  a  great  degree  with  the  physical  characters 
of  the  Red  race,  as  depicted  upon  some  of  the  American  monu 
ments.  li  It  is  singular,"  he  says,  "  that  the  men  represented 
in  these  tombs  are  all  colored  red,  exactly  as  in  the  Egyptian 
paintings  in  the  tombs  of  the  Theban  kings :  their  eyes  are  very 
long  j  their  hair  is  bushy  and  black ;  their  limbs  lank  and  slen 
der  ;  and  the  facial  line,  instead  of  running,  like  that  of  the 
Greeks,  nearly  perpendicular,  projects  remarkably,  so  that  in 
the  outline  of  the  face,  they  bear  a  strong  resemblance  to  the 
negro,  or  to  the  Ethiopian  figures  of  Egyptian  painting."f 

Hindoostan  contains  many  dissimilar  races ;  in  many  portions 
of  this  vast  country  there  are  wild  tribes,  some  of  whom  ap 
proach  to  the  type  of  the  Red  race.  Thus  the  Garrows,  and  the 


*  Niebuhr's  Researches  into  the  History  of  the  Scythians,  pp. 
46,  83.  t  Vol.  i.  p.  390. 


294  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

Lunctas,  and  the  Puharries  resemble  the  Chinese  and  the  peo 
ple  of  Eastern  Asia.  Bishop  Heber  says,  "  the  great  difference 
in  color  between  different  natives  struck  me  much.  Of  the 
crowd  by  whom  we  were  surrounded,  some  were  black  as  ne 
groes,  others  merely  copper-colored,  and  others  little  darker 
than  the  Tunisines."*  According  to  Mr..0rme,  the  color  of 
the  Hindoos  is  either  that  of  copper  or  of  the  olive,  with  the 
various  intermediate  shades;  the  hair  is  long,  fine,  and  jet  black, 
the  lips  larger  than  those  of  Europeans,  the  eyes  black,  and  the 
eyelids  long.  In  general,  also,  the  head  is  thin,  the  face  oval, 
and  the  stature  small.  Niebuhr  remarks  that  none  of  the  figures 
at  Elephanta  have  beards,  and  this  is  the  case  with  many  of 
those  at  Ellora.  In  one  of  the  caves  near  Bang,  in  Malwah, 
which  is  decorated  with  a  beautiful  Etruscan  border,  "  on  the 
lower  parts  of  the  wall  and  columns,  have  been  painted  male 
and  female  figures  of  a  red  or  copper-color,  the  heads  of  which 
have  been  intentionally  erased.  What  remains  shows  them  to 
have  been  executed  in  a  style  of  painting,  far  surpassing  any 
modern  specimens  of  native  art."f 

But  it  is  in  Egypt  that  we  find  the  clearest  evidences  of  the 
ancient  existence  of  the  Red  race.  The  Copts,  who  are  the 
degraded  descendants  of  the  Egyptians,  though  now  a  mixed 
race,  are  described  as  having  a  dusky  and  yellowish  color,  black 
and  large  elongated  eyes  slightly  inclining  from  the  nose  up 
wards,  thick  lips,  thin  beard,  the  hair  black  and  curly,  high 
cheek  bones,  and  a  flat  forehead.J  But  the  people  who  at  pre- 

*  Heber,  vol.  i.  p.  19.        f  Mod.  Trav.  India,  part  viii.  p.  308. 

J  Lane's  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Modern  Egyptians,  vol.  ii. 
p.  310 ;  vol.  i.  pp.  31,  32.  Denon's  Trav.  in  Egypt,  vol.  i.  p.  266. 
Sonnini,  vol.  iii.  pp.  67,  203. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  295 

sent,  according  to  the  opinion  of  the  learned,  bear  the  closest  re 
semblance  to  the  ancient  Egyptians,  as  represented  in  their  paint 
ings,  are  the  Nubeh,  Barabras,  or  Berberins  of  the  Upper  Nile.* 
They  offer  also  indications  of  mixture  with  other  tribes,  but  some 
tribes  are  of  a  red  or  copper-color,  varying  to  a  darker  tint, 
with  thick  lips,  a  scanty  beard,f  and  hair  bushy  and  strong,  but 
not  woolly.  Few  questions  have  been  discussed  with  more 
learning  and  ingenuity  than  the  physical  character  of  the  an 
cient  Egyptians.  The  result  of  these  investigations  has  estab 
lished,  that  at  least  one  of  the  varieties  of  physiognomy  ex 
pressed  in  the  paintings  and  sculptures  presents  several  of  the 
characteristics  of  the  Red  race.  It  is  clear  that  their  artists  en 
deavored  to  represent  the  complexion  and  features  in  the  most 
faithful  and  accurate  manner.J  In  the  figures  upon  the  monu 
ments,  the  forehead  is  rather  low,  the  eyes  are  drawn  in  an 
oblique  direction,  (which  is  more  remarkable  in  the  paintings 
than  in  the  sculptures,)  the  lips  are  somewhat  thick,  the  cheek 
bones  rather  high,  the  hair  black,  short,  and  bushy,  and  the 
complexion  of  a  red  copper,  or  light  chocolate-color.  "  This 
red  color,"  says  Mr.  Pritchard,  "  is  evidently  intended  to  repre 
sent  the  complexion  of  the  people,  and  is  not  put  on  in  the 
want  of  a  lighter  paint  or  flesh-color,  for  when  the  limbs  or 
bodies  are  represented  as  seen  through  a  thin  veil,  the  tint  used 
resembles  the  complexion  of  Europeans.  The  same  shade 


*  Lane,  ibid.  Pritchard's  Eastern  Origin  of  the  Celtic  Nations, 
p.  190. 

t  Burckhardt's  Travels  in  Nubia,  p.  110.  Pritchard's  Phys.  Res. 
vol.  ii.  p.  172. 

t  Heeren's  Res.,  vol.  ii.  p.  90. 


296  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

might  have  been  generally  adopted,  if  a  darker  one  had  not 
been  preferred  as  more  truly  representing  the  natural  complex 
ion  of  the  Egyptian  race."  A  peculiarity  of  most  of  these  fig 
ures  is  the  absence  of  the  beard  in  the  native  races,  while  a 
beard  generally  attends  all  the  representations  of  Asiatics.* 
This  might  be  attributed  to  the  custom  of  the  Egyptians,  who, 
according  to  Herodotus,  shaved  every  part  of  their  bodies,  but 
it  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  race  possessed  a  thin  beard, 
and  it  is  singular  that  when  upon  the  sculptures  that  feature  is 
represented,  it  does  not  appear  in  the  long  and  easy  flow  of  na 
ture,  but,  united  in  one  mass,  adheres  to  the  chin  in  such  an 
artificial  form  that  it  has  been  conjectured  that  the  ancient 
Egyptians  wore  the  beard  in  a  case :  in  this  shape  it  was  ap 
propriated  to  the  statues  of  the  kings  and  gods,  Osiris  and  Ho- 
rus,  arid  appears  to  have  been  used  only  as  the  symbol  of  man 
hood.  Rosellini  remarked  that  the  same  head  on  the  same 
monument  is  sometimes  represented  with  the  artificial  beard, 
and  sometimes  without  it,  and  that  it  was  probably  not  worn, 
but  merely  intended  to  denote  the  male  character.!  Of  the 
mummies  the  males  have  the  head  and  beard  shaved,  and  the 
hair  of  the  females  was  long  and  black.  On  the  Nubian  mon 
uments  we  also  find  males  represented  as  beardless,  or  with  the 
beard  shaven,  or  with  a  narrow  beard  under  the  chin  as  it  is 
now  worn  by  the  men  in  Nubia.J  From  these  circumstances, 
it  may  be  presumed  that  the  Egyptians  like  the  modern  Copts 
and  Nubians  had  but  little  beard.  In  their  color,  in  the  pecu- 


*  Wilkinson,  vol.  i.  p.  297 ;  vol.  ii.  p.  362. 

|  Library  Ent.  Know.,  Egypt.  Antiq.,  vol.  ii.  p.  82. 

t  Burckhardt,  pp.  99,  110. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  297 

liar  character  of  the  eyes,  in  the  black  hair  and  scanty  beard, 
we  recognise  the  features  of  the  Red  race.  In  speaking  of  the 
figures  painted  upon  the  walls  of  a  tomb  at  Thebes,  Sir  Fred 
erick  Henniker  says,  "  In  these  unfinished  figures,  the  sweet 
ness  of  the  face,  and  the  extraordinary  length  and  beauty  of 
the  eye  rivet  attention."  "  At  Munich  I  saw  two  young  Bra 
zilians  (Indians),  whose  eyes  are  similar  to  these  in  the  tomb. 
These  children  were  lately  brought  from  the  river  of  the  Ama 
zons  by  Professor  Martius."*  It  may  be  added  that  in  one  case 
a  people  with  very  prominent  noses,  and  looking  like  those  on 
the  Mexican  pictures  and  monuments,  are  represented  on  the 
Egyptian.! 

Some  osteological  evidence  tends  also  to  sanction  this  divi 
sion  of  the  human  race  into  three  varieties.  The  methods  of 
considering  the  human  head,  its  shape  and  volume,  have  been 
various,  but  in  two,  which  were  originated  by  the  most  distin 
guished  naturalists,  there  is  a  correspondence,  whidh  is  the  more 
singular  from  the  discrepancy  of  their  views  with  regard  to  the 
number  of  the  races.  By  the  vertical  method  of  Blumenbach, 
who  divided  mankind  into  five  races,  but  three  great  varieties 
exist  in  the  conformation  of  the  head,  indicative  of  the  three  races. 
I.  The  Caucasian.  II.  The  Mongolian,  and  III.  The  Ethiopian. 

*  Henniker,  p.  126. 

f  Wilkinson,  vol.  i.  pp.  370,  378.—"  This  relic  with  a  great  variety 
of  uncouth  and  frightful  stone  images  of  porphyry,  were  found  buried 
beneath  the  great  square,  consisting  of  idol  gods  and  goddesses,  ser 
pents  and  other  brute  creatures  of  their  superstitious  veneration  and 
worship.  Among  the  collection  I  observed  a  large  head  cut  in  granite, 
the  very  fac  simile  of  those  I  have  seen  in  Egypt,  and  but  for  its  lo 
cality  and  place  of  discovery,  I  should  have  supposed  it  had  been  dug 
from  the  ruins  of  Thebes." — Tudor* s  Travels  in  Mexico. 

38 


298  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

By  the  method  of  general  comparison,  pursued  by  Dr.  Prit- 
chard  who  divides  men  into  seven  varieties  or  classes,  but 
three  leading  divisions  are  indicated  by  the  form  of  the  skull. 
I.  The  symmetrical,  or  oval  form.  (The  Caucasian.)  II.  The 
prognathous,  or  narrow  and  elongated  skull.  (The  Ethiopian.) 
I  [I.  The  pyramidal,  or  broad  and  square-faced  skull.  (The 
Mongolian.)* 

That  these  varieties  of  mankind  are  not  of  recent  origin,  and 
the  result  of  climate  and  other  causes  operating  upon  the  hu 
man  constitution,  but  that  they  are  of  such  antiquity  as  to  be 
justly  entitled  to  the  appellation  of  primitive,  must  appear  by 
reference  to  all  the  descriptions,  monumental  or  historical,  that 
have  been  handed  down  to  us.  The  distinction  of  the  races  seems 
to  be  coeval  not  only  with  the  earliest  traditions,  but  with  the 

*  Dr.  Pritchard  has  designated  the  first  and  third  of  these  varieties 
(the  Caucasian  and  Mongolian)  by  the  terms  Iranian  and  Turanian. 
Iran,  from  the  most  ancient  times,  has  been  the*  name  by  which  the 
native  Persians  have  designated  their  country,  and  describes  that  ter 
ritory  which  lies  south  and  west  of  the  Oxus,  and  between  Arabia  and 
India,  Tartary  and  the  Indian  ocean ;  while  Turan  or  Touran  is  a 
general  appellation  for  the  countries  beyond  the  Oxus. — Malcolm's 
Hist.  Persia,  vol.  i.  p.  2,  note.  According  to  one  of  the  early  tradi 
tions,  they  were  so  called  after  Toor  and  Erij,  two  of  the  sons  of  Feri- 
doon  a  Persian  prince,  to  whom  Tartary  and  Persia  were  respectively 
assigned  upon  the  death  of  their  father.  The  Persian  historians,  says 
Drummond,  lay  claims  to  the  high  antiquity  of  their  monarchy,  which, 
according  to  their  account,  extended  over  all  Asia,  with  the  exception 
of  India.  They  divided  Asia  into  three  parts,  Iran,  Turan  and  Ma- 
grab.  Turan  included  Tartary,  China  and  Thibet ;  Iran,  Persia ;  and 
Magrab,  the  countries  to  the  west  of  Persia. — Drummond's  Origines^ 
vol.  i.  p.  298. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  299 

most  ancient  representations  upon  the  architectural  remains  of 
the  world,  and  with  the  earliest  physical  descriptions.  The  ap 
parent  inaccuracies  and  contradictions  which  arose  among  an 
cient  authors  in  the  physical  description  of  different  nations, 
originated  in  some  cases  from  migrations,  and  the  consequent 
transferring  of  names  from  one  nation  to  another,  as  they  occu 
pied  regions  which  still  continued  to  be  denominated  by  the 
name  of  the  tribes  they  succeeded.  Having  reference  to  this 
confusion  of  nomenclature,  and  to  the  inaccurate  descriptions 
by  the  Greeks  of  the  physical  characters  of  the  Egyptians,  there 
is  no  difficulty  in  referring  the  triple  division  of  mankind,  laid 
down  by  Aristotle,  to  the  three  races,  the  White,  Black,  and 
Red.  "  Aristotle,"  says  Mr.  Wiseman,  "  appears  to  have  re 
corded  the  classification  prevalent  in  earlier  and  in  his  own 
times,  when  he  tells  us  that  the  older  physiognomists  decided  of 
a  person's  character  by  the  resemblance  of  his  features  to  those 
nations  who  differ  in  appearance  and  manners,  as  the  Egyp 
tians,  Thracians,  ^nd  Scythians."*  The  same  learned  author  has 
satisfactorily  proved  by  collating  this  with  other  passages  from 
Aristotle,  that  when  he  here  speaks  of  the  Egyptians  he  intend 
ed  to  signify  the  Negro  or  Black  race,  that  by  the  Scythians 
he  proposed  to  describe  the  fair  or  white-complexioned  Ger 
mans  of  that  name,  and  by  the  Thracians,  the  Mongol,  or  Red 
race.  And  this  inference  is  sustained  by  a  "  passage  in  Julius 
Firmicus,  overlooked  by  the  commentators  of  Aristotle,  which 
gives  us  the  same  ternary  division,  with  the  colors  of  each  race. 
'  In  the  first  place,'  he  writes, '  speaking  of  the  characters  and 


*  Wiseman's  Lectures  on  the  Connection  between  Science  and 
Revealed  Religion,  p.  95,  and  authorities  tliere  cited. 


300  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE   ORIGIN  AND 

colors  of  men,  they  agree  in  saying :  if  by  the  mixed  influence 
of  the  stars,  the  characters  and  complexions  of  men  are  distri 
buted,  and  if  the  course  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  by  a  certain 
kind  of  artful  painting,  form  the  lineaments  of  mortal  bodies ; 
that  is,  if  the  Moon  makes  men  white,  Mars  red,  and  Saturn 
black,  how  comes  it  that  in  Ethiopia  all  are  born  black,  in  Ger 
many  white,  and  in  Thrace  red.'  "* 

In  one  of  the  tombs  at  Beban  el  Malek,  near  Thebes,  is  re 
presented  the  clearest  evidence  of  the  existence  of  the  three 
races,  at  a  period  probably  not  less  than  fifteen  hundred  years 
before  our  era.  It  consists  of  the  celebrated  procession  of  four  dif 
ferent  nations,  in  groups  of  four,  painted  red,  white,  black,  and 
then  white.  The  first  four  belong  to  the  white  race,  as  appears 
from  the  beard,  mustaches,  complexion,  and  profile.  The 
second  are  beyond  question  four  negroes.  The  third  are  sim 
ilar  in  color  to  the  first,  with  a  different  costume,  and  have  a 
dense  brown  beard ;  from  their  peculiar  physiognomy  they  are 
supposed  to  have  been  intended  for  Jews.  The  last  four  are 
red  men;  "  their  black  hair  plaited  from  the  crown,  hangs  reg 
ularly  all  round  the  head ;  it  is  cut  short  immediately  over  the 
eyebrows,  and  hangs  down  behind  the  ears  into  the  neck.  They 
have  a  small  piece  of  black  beard  stuck  to  the  point  of  their 
chin,  but  no  mustaches,"  a  style  of  wearing  the  beard  like  that 
of  the  modern  Nubians,  who  have  a  scanty  beard. 

There  is  no  period,  however  remote,  in  which  we  do  not 
find  some  allusion  either  mythological,  monumental,  or  histori 
cal,  to  the  physical  differences  in  the  human  appearance,  and  to 
their  ternary  division.  In  the  mythological  traditions  of  nations , 

*  Wiseman,  p.  100. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  301 

\ve  might  anticipate  the  discovery  of  the  most  ancient  references 
to  this  subject.  And  perhaps  the  most  striking  instance  of  this 
kind  is  afforded  in  those  of  the  ancient  and  civilized  people  of 
America.  In  a  continent  where,  so  far  as  researches  have  ex 
tended,  there  is  no  indication  of  the  existence  of  any  other  than 
the  Red  race  before  the  discovery,  we  nevertheless  perceive  a 
knowledge  of  the  two  other  races ;  not,  however,  as  derived 
from  the  actual  presence  of  these  races  as  inhabiting  this  coun 
try,  but  as  the  physical  description  of  their  gods.  Thus  Quet- 
zelcoatl,  the  Mexican  deity,  the  Payzome  of  Brazil,  Viracocha 
the  Peruvian  god,  are  all  represented  as  white  men,  with  a 
long  and  flowing  beard,  and  among  the  Muyscas  of  South 
America,  Bochica,  the  prototype  of  Quetzelcoatl,  is  described 
in  a  similar  manner.  Tezcatlipoca,  another  of  the  Mexican 
gods,  is  described  as  black,  and  his  principal  image  was  of  a 
black  shining  stone.  The  same  deity  probably  was  known  and 
worshipped  among  neighboring  tribes,  by  the  name  of  Ixtlilton, 
or  «  The  Black."* 

In  Hindoostan  the  ancient  mythology  presents  equally  curi 
ous  physical  characteristics  as  peculiar  to  the  three  great  dei 
ties.  Brahma,  the  most  ancient  of  these,  is  represented  as  a 
red  man,  Vishnu  as  6/ac/c,  and  Siva  white.  In  Egypt,  where 
the  religious  system  was  so  closely  assimilated  to  that  of  the 
Hindoos,  Osiris,  Typhon,  and  Horus,  were  respectively  distin 
guished  as  blacky  red,  and  white.^  In  the  mythology  of  the 


*  Voyage  Pittoresque  dans  la  Province  D'Yucatan,  par  Frederick 
de  Waldeck,  pp.  6,  18.  Clavigero,  vol.  i.  p.  244. 

t  Paterson,  in  As.  Res.  Pritchard's  Egypt.  Mythology,  p.  285,  on 
the  authority  of  Plutarch. 


302  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

Greeks  and  Romans,  we  are  told  that  Saturn  divided  the  earth 
between  his  three  sons,  and  Herodotus  relates  that  Targitaus, 
the  first  king  of  Scythia,  made  a  similar  division  of  that  country 
among  his  three  sons.* 

It  is  true,  .that  these  physical  descriptions  and  fables  are 
directly  connected  with  the  religious  superstitions  of  these  widely 
separated  nations,  but  such  is  the  case  with  all  the  primitive 
pagan  histories  of  the  world ;  for  in  early  epochs,  religion  and 
history  were  closely  interwoven,  and  blended  together.  In  all 
mythologies  a  recondite  meaning  has  been  existent,  and  when 
we  step  beyond  the  precincts  of  sacred  authority,  we  must  ex 
pect  to  find  the  real  events  of  history,  as  well  as  truths  in  natu 
ral  philosophy  and  science,  shrouded  under  theological  mysteries, 
and  engrafted  upon  religious  systems.  The  Greeks,  with  their 
usual  refinement,  speculated  metaphysically  upon  these  ancient 
myths,  and  hence,  perhaps,  originated  the  divine  triad  of  Plato. 
But  it  is  wiser  to  refer  this  triple  division  to  an  historical  fact 
than  to  a  subtle  idea  of  religious  belief;  particularly,  as  we 
find  no  ground  for  its  existence  at  that  early  period,  in  the  sa 
cred  writings,  which,  however,  refer  to  the  three  sons  of  Noah 
as  the  original  progenitors  of  the  human  race  after  the  flood. 

The  Triune  vessel  found  in  one  of  the  Ohio  mounds  perhaps 
indicates  the  same  fact,  which  is  corroborated  also  by  the  sin 
gular  circumstance  that  among  the  various  groups  of  earthen 
mounds  in  the  United  States,  it  is  observed  that  three  are  gen 
erally  of  a  greater  size  than  the  others,  and  stand  in  the  most 
prominent  places.f  The  same  remark  applies  to  the  pyramids 
of  Egypt — at  least  to  those  of  Djizeh,  Dashour,  Abousir,  and 
Gheeza. 

*  Herod.,  vol.  ii.  p.  306.  f  Arch.  Am.,  vol.  i.  p.  249. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  303 

Dr.  Pritchard  remarks,  that  the  black-haired  variety  forms 
the  most  numerous  class  of  mankind,  and  that  it  may  be  looked 
upon  as  the  natural  and  original  complexion  of  the  human  spe 
cies.*  "  If  we  admit,"  says  Dr.  Lawrence,  "  the  Caucasian  to 
have  been  the  primitive  form  of  man,  are  we  to  suppose  that 
the  skin  was  rosy,  the  hair  yellow  or  red,  and  the  eyes  blue,  or 
that  the  former  had  a  tendency  to  brown,  and  that  both  the  lat 
ter  were  dark  ?  We  can  have  little  hesitation  in  adopting  the 
latter  opinion ;  for  those  characters  belong  to  all  of  this  race 
except  the  Germans,  which  have  occupied  the  more  distant 
regions."!  In  adducing  a  few  curious  facts  on  this  point,  it 
will  be  perceived  that  while  they  afford  room  for  speculation 
only,  as  to  the  original  color  of  the  human  race,  they  tend  di 
rectly  to  confirm  the  great  antiquity  of  the  Red  race. 

"  The  Indians,"  observes  Mr.  Adair,  "  are  of  a  copper  or 
red  clay-color,  and  they  delight  in  every  thing  which  they  im 
agine  may  promote  and  increase  it.  Accordingly  they  paint 
their  faces  with  vermilion,  as  the  best  and  most  beautiful  in 
gredient.  If  we  consider  the  common  laws  of  nature  and  Prov 
idence,  we  shall  not  be  surprised  at  this  custom — for  every 
thing  loves  best  its  own  likeness  and  place  in  the  creation,  and 
is  disposed  to  ridicule  its  opposite."!  Not  only  do  the  Ameri 
can  wTarriors  paint  themselves  with  this  color,  but  in  some  sepul 
chres  in  South  America,  even  the  bones  of  the  skeletons  have 
been  dyed  of  the  same  hue.  It  may  be  remembered  that  some 
of  the  monuments  of  Central  America  were  painted  red,  a  cir 
cumstance,  by  no  means  of  any  importance,  were  it  an  isolated 
instance,  but  rendered  interesting  by  similar  appearances  else- 

*  Frit.  Phys.  Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  220.  f  Lectures,  p.  358. 

|  Hist.  N.  Am.  Ind.,  p.  1. 


304  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

where.  It  is  singular  also,  that  among  some  of  the  tribes  of 
our  western  Indians,  we  should  find  a  tradition  that  they  were 
formed  by  the  Creator  from  the  steatite,  a  species  of  red  clay 
abounding  in  that  region.  Passing  to  the  eastward  it  is  ob 
served,  that  the  Polynesian  Areois  dyed  their  faces  scarlet,*  in 
their  religious  ceremonies, — and  in  one  of  the  Polynesian  tradi 
tions  it  is  related  that  man  was  created  of  red  earth—  araea.-f 
Sculpture  and  monumental  painting  is  one  of  the  most  ancient 
of  arts,  as  appears  from  some  of  the  oldest  structures  in  the 
world.  The  exterior  of  the  Indian  pagodas  are  sometimes 
painted  red,J  traces  of  the  same  color  are  perceptible  on  the 
surface  of  the  sphynx  before  the  pyramid  of  Cheops,  and  other 
Egyptian  sculptures.§  The  Egyptians,  it  has  been  already  re 
marked,  are  depicted  on  the  walls  of  their  tombs  as  of  a  red 
color ;  we  trace  the  same  human  complexion  in  the  Etrurian 
tombs  and  Hindoo  caves,  and  we  read  also  of  vermilion  men 
painted  upon  the  walls  of  the  Babylonian  temples.|| 

There  are  other  circumstances  illustrating  the  sanctity  of 
this  color.  Red  or  scarlet  it  is  well  known  was  a  royal  color 
and  called  Phoinic.^  Hence,  the  palm-tree,  whose  fruit  was 
of  the  same  tint,  was  the  emblem  of  honor,  and  the  reward  of 
victory.  To  this  and  to  its  sacred  use  Pliny  alludes  when  he 
says,  "  Verrius  allegeth  and  rehearseth  many  authors,  whose 
credit  ought  not  to  be  disproved,  who  affirm  that  the  manner 

*  Ellis's  Polynesian  Res.,  p.  180.  f  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  95. 

J  Heeren's  Res.,  vol.  iii.  p.  77. 
§  Clarke's  Travels,  vol.  iii.  p.  97. 
||  EzekielSS:  11;  8:  10. 

Tf  Iliad,  v.  454.     Gellius,  1.  ii.  c.  26,  and  the  Scholiast,  all  quoted 
by  Bryant,  Myth.,  vol.  ii.  p.  9. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  305 

was  in  times  past  to  paint  the  face  of  Jupiter's  image  upon  high 
and  festival  days  with  vermilion ;  as  also  that  the  valiant  cap 
tains  who  rode  triumphant  into  Rome  had  in  former  times  their 
bodies  covered  all  over  therewith ;  after  which  manner  noble 
Camillus,  they  say,  entered  the  city  in  triumph.  And  even  at 
this  day,  according  to  that  ancient  and  religious  custom,  or 
dinary  it  is  to  color  all  the  unguents  that  are  used  at  festival 
suppers  at  a  high  and  solemn  triumph  with  vermilion.  And 
no  one  thing  do  the  Censors  give  charge  and  order  to  be  done 
at  their  entrance  into  office  before  the  painting  of  Jupiter's  vis 
age  with  Minium.  The  cause  and  motive  that  should  induce 
our  ancestors  to  this  ceremony  I  marvel  much  at,  and  cannot 
tell  what  it  should  be."* 

To  this  may  be  added  the  testimony  of  Josephus,  that  Adam 
in  the  Hebrew  signifies  one  that  is  red,  because  he  was  formed 
out  of  red  earth.f  The  evidence  that  similar  opinions  prevailed 
in  the  Hebrew  traditions  is  exceedingly  curious,  and  none 

*  Pliny,  Nat.  Hist,  33,  7.  old  trans. 

It  appears  that  a  German  of  great  learning  has  made  a  similar 
ternary  division  of  the  races,  not  founded  upon  physical  grounds, 
but  upon  moral  and  historical  circumstances  which  he  considers  as 
affording  strong  lines  of  distinction. 

1.  The  Caucasian  race,  which  is  known  in  most  of  its  branches 
through  an  unbroken  series  of  history,  and  by  many  varieties  of  civil 
ization. 

2.  The  Mongol  race,  which  has  a  less  authentic  history,  and  only 
one  kind  of  limited  civilization  ;  and 

3.  The  Ethiopic  race,  which  has  extremely  little  history,  and  seems 
to  have  retrograded  in  civilization. —  Universal  History  of  Christoph 
Schlosser,  vol.  i.  sec.  2.  div.  1,  cited  in  Westminster  Rev.,  vol.  i.  p.  94. 

f  Joseph.  Antiq.,  p.  29. 

39 


306  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

more  so  than  the  allegorical  description  of  the  three  races,  and 
the  account  of  the  physical  appearance  of  Noah  contained  in 
the  Apocryphal  Book  of  Enoch — a  work  probably  written  a 
short  time  before  the  Christian  era.*  We  see  here  most  clearly 
that  some  at  least  of  the  Jews  entertained  a  belief  in  the  very 
ancient  differences  of  color,  which  characterize  the  races. 

*  The  Book  of  Enoch  the  Prophet,  translated  from  an  Ethiopia 
MS.  in  the  Bodleian  Library,  by  Richard  Lawrence,  Archbishop  of 
Cashel.  Oxford,  1833.  pp.  112,  116,  161.  Ch.  84,  sec.  17,  v.  2. 
"  And  behold  a  cow  sprang  from  the  earth  ;  v.  3.  And  this  cow  was 
white,  v.  4.  Afterwards  a  female  heifer  sprung  forth,  and  with  it 
another  heifer ;  one  of  them  was  black,  and  one  was  red,"  &c.,  et  seq. 

Ch.  88,  v.  1.  "  Then  one  of  these  four  went  to  the  white  cows,  and 
taught  them  a  mystery.  While  the  cow  was  trembling,  it  was  born, 
and  became  a  man,  and  fabricated  for  himself  a  large  ship.  In  this 
he  dwelt,  and  three  cows  dwelt  with  him  in  that  ship,  which  covered 
them.  (The  deluge  and  its  subsidence  are  then  described,  and  then 
the  allegory  proceeds.)  v.  9.  Again  I  looked,  in  the  vision,  until 
those  cataracts  from  that  lofty  roof  were  removed,  and  the  fountains 
of  the  earth  became  equalized,  while  other  depths  were  opened, 
v.  10.  Into  which  the  water  began  to  descend  until  the  dry  ground 
appeared,  v.  11.  The  ship  remained  on  the  earth  ;  the  darkness  re 
ceded  ;  and  it  became  light,  v.  12.  Then  the  white  cow  which  be 
came  a  man  went  out  of  the  ship,  and  the  three  cows  with  him. 
v.  13.  One  of  the  three  cows  was  white,  resembling  that  cow,  one  of  them 
was  red  as  blood,  and  one  of  them  was  black ;  and  the  white  cow  left 
them." 

In  the  same  book,  ch.  105,  Noah  is  described  at  his  birth  "  as  a 
child  the  flesh  of  which  was  white  as  snow,  and  red  as  a  rose ;  the 
hair  of  whose  head  was  white  like  wool  and  long,  and  whose  eyes 
were  bright  and  beautiful ;"  as  "  a  son  unlike  to  other  children ;"  as 
'  of  a  different  nature  from  ours  (theirs),  being  altogether  unlike  to 
us,"  who  resembled  "  not  his  father  Lamech." 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  307 

It  is  to  be  remarked  that  in  these  traditions,  and  indeed  in 
those  of  all  ancient  nations,  there  are  undoubted  evidences 
that  by  the  concurrent  belief  of  mankind  all  men  were  children 
of  the  same  first  parents.  Tradition  and  history,  sacred  and 
profane,  unite  in  asserting  this,  arid  yet  from  the  same  testimony 
we  are  forced  to  admit  the  existence  of  the  three  races,  sepa 
rated  by  the  same  broad  lines  of  distinction  that  they  now  are, 
in  the  earliest  postdiluvian  ages.  Science,  while  it  has  by  close 
observation,  and  a  rigid  system  of  induction,  confuted  the  once 
general  idea  that  these  varieties  have  been  produced  by  climate 
and  similar  causes,  has  at  the  same  time  by  analogical  testi 
mony  rendered  it  probable,  if  not  demonstrated,  that  the  pro 
duction  of  varieties  is  not  a  phenomenon  unknown  in  the  phys 
ical  history  of  man ;  and  thus  the  unity  of  the  human  race  is 
reconciled  with  its  ancient  ternary  division.  It  is  the  province 
of  true  wisdom  not  to  strive  to  penetrate  beyond,  or  to  inquire 
as  to  the  final  cause  of  this  division.  Our  duties  are  to  be 
learned  from  things  as  they  exist,  and  not  from  speculation.  In 
proving  the  common  origin  and  the  relationship  of  all  men, 
though  now  existing  in  three  races,  tradition  and  physiology 
act  in  harmony ;  by  acknowledging  this  relationship,  the  most 
severe  and  lofty  code  of  morals,  and  the  most  benign  philan 
thropy  are  satisfied ;  for  by  this  result,  the  social,  moral,  and 
political  rights  of  every  branch  of  the  same  great  family  are 
placed  upon  an  incontrovertible  equality,  and  the  most  degraded 
members  of  the  human  race  have  claims  upon  our  sympathy. 

It  appears  from  the  preceding  investigation  that  the  Red 
race  may  be  traced,  by  physical  analogies,  into  Siberia,  China, 
Japan,  Polynesia,  Indo-China,  the  Malayan  islands,  Hindoo- 


308  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

stan,  Madagascar,*  Egypt,  and  Etruria.  In  some  of  these  coun 
tries  the  pure  type  of  the  race  may  be  perceived  existing  at 
present,  in  others  many  of  its  characters  have  been  changed 
and  modified,  apparently  by  intermarriage,  and  in  others  its 
ancient  existence  is  to  be  discovered  only  by  the  records  pre 
served  on  their  monuments.  In  these  directions,  then,  are  we 
to  search  for  further  analogies,  and  it  may  be  found  that  physi 
ology  is  by  no  means  a  fallacious  guide  in  the  elucidation  of 
ancient  history. 

*  The  physical  description  of  the  tribes  in  Madagascar  was  acci 
dentally  omitted  in  the  preceding  chapter.  The  inhabitants  of  this 
island  consist  of  two  classes.  The  one  is  distinguished  by  a  light 
person,  straight  black  hair,  weak  and  scanty  beard,  which  they  pluck 
out  like  the*  American  aborigines,  and  by  an  olive  or  copper-colored 
complexion.  The  members  of  the  other  class  are  more  robust  and 
dark-colored — sometimes  black — with  woolly  hair.  The  first  race 
resembles  the  Malays  and  Polynesians ;  the  latter  approach  to  the 
Negro.  These  races  have  intermingled.  The  olive-colored  tribes 
are  not  the  aborigines  of  the  country,  and  there,  seems  to  be  good 
foundation  for  the  opinion  that  their  ancestors  were  a  colony  from 
Java.— Elites  Hist.  Madagascar,  vol.  i.  pp.  115,  133,  122 ;  vol.  ii. 
p.  4. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  309 


CHAPTER    VII. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  ABORIGINES.      LANGUAGE. 

THE  mutual  diversities  of  the  American  languages,  hereto 
fore  so  much  exaggerated,  and  the  few  signs  of  affinity  they 
exhibit  to  those  of  the  other  continent,  have  been  often  urged  as 
decisive  of  their  indigenous  origin.  And  in  one  sense  these  diver 
sities  clearly  are  indigenous,  that  is,  they  present  undoubted  indi 
cations  of  having  been  originated  since  the  migration  of  the  race 
into  America.  Perhaps  the  highest  proof  of  the  original  rela 
tionship  of  languages  consists  in  the  resemblance  of  their  gram 
matical  structure.  Abandoning  the  old  system  of  endeavoring  to 
establish  affinities  by  the  identity  of  words,  a  defective  criterion 
when  employed  alone,  and  one  which  was  often  limited  only 
by  the  fancy  and  ingenuity  of  the  inquirer,  philologists  have 
examined  into  the  form  and  character  of  the  American  lan 
guages,  and  have  established  satisfactorily  that  they  have  all 
sprung  from  one  common  source.  The  features  of  resemblance 
are  such  as  enter  into  their  elementary  construction ;  the  diver 
sities,  those  to  which  all  languages  are  exposed  by  the  separa 
tion  and  dispersion  of  those  who  speak  them.  When  the  an 
cient  progenitors  of  the  aborigines  reached  our  shores,  they 
found  a  vast  uninhabited  continent  expanded  before  them. 
The  immediate  and  rapid  distribution  of  population  which  must 
have  ensued,  the  separation  into  distinct  tribes  and  communi 
ties,  each  remaining  isolated  for  a  long  series  of  ages,  the 


310  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

change  in  mode  of  life,  and  the  decline  of  civilization,  must  soon 
have  effected  a  radical  alteration  in  the  words  of  an  oral 
language,  and  effaced  every  sign  of  verbal  identity.  If  the 
chief  evidence  of  the  common  origin  of  the  American  lan 
guages  exists  in  their  construction,  we  might,  with  great  cer 
tainty,  anticipate  the  absolute  loss  of  every  trace  of  verbal 
affinity  with  any  of  the  dialects  of  the  other  hemisphere.  Ac 
cordingly  none  of  the  efforts  to  discover  the  origin  of  the  Amer 
icans  has  proved  more  unsuccessful,  than  those  which  have  been 
based  upon  an  examination  of  their  languages.  The  scanty 
analogies  which  have  been  perceived,  however,  point  towards 
Asia.  Thus,  in  eighty-three  American  languages,  one  hundred 
and  seventy  words  have  been  found,  with  similar  roots,  a  great 
majority  of  which  are  related  to  similar  words  in  the  Tongoo, 
Mantchoo,  Mongol,  Samoid,  Ostiac  and  other  Siberian  idioms. 
Other  points  of  resemblance  have  been  traced  between  the  In 
dian  languages,  and  the  Coptic,  Basque,  and  Polynesian.  The 
Aztec  is  said  to  possess  a  small  number  of  affinities  with  the 
Chinese  and  Japanese ;  Tonquin  words  have  been  found  in  the 
Maya  tongue;  and  the  Otornite  is  thought  to  present  some 
similitude  to  the  Chinese.  Another  peculiarity  which  appears 
to  be  common  to  the  Oriental  dialects  of  Asia  and  some  of  our 
aboriginal  languages,  is  the  existence  of  a  court-language — a 
modification  of  speech  differing  from  the  ordinary  idiom.  Thus 
the  Mexicans,  Natchez,  and  Creeks,  and  other  nations  used  a 
language  of  honor  in  addressing  their  chiefs  and  princes,  and 
the  same  has  been  observed  in  China,  among  the  Malays,*  and 

in  Java  and  Siam.     Of  this  language  of  ceremony,  Clavigero 

/ 

*  Marsden's  Sumatra,  p.  102. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  311 

says,  "  The  style  of  address  in  Mexican  varies  according  to  the 
rank  of  the  persons,  with  whom,  or  about  whom,  conversation  is 
held,  adding  to  the  nouns,  verbs,  prepositions  and  adverbs  certain 
particles  expressive  of  respect."*  "  In  addition  to  these  simple 
pronouns,"  says  Dr.  Leyden,  in  a  passage  quoted  by  Dr.  Lang, 
"  there  are  various  others  which  indicate  rank  and  situation,  as 
in  Malayu,  Chinese,  and  the  monosyllabic  languages  in  general, 
which  have  all  of  them  paid  peculiar  attention  to  the  language 
of  ceremony,  in  addressing  superiors,  inferiors  and  equals." 
It  is  perhaps  somewhat  more  than  an  accidental  coincidence 
that  the  Mexican  particle  tzin  which  was  usually  added  to  the 
names  of  their  kings,  is  identical  with  the  Chinese  tsin,  and  the 
Indo-Chinese  asyang,  an  affix  signifying  Lord.'f 

The  great  obstacle  interposed  against  a  full  understanding 
of  the  real  affinities,  which  exist  between  the  American  and 
other  languages,  has  been  the  method  of  investigation.  The 
learning  of  Europe  and  America  has  been  exhausted  to  little 
purpose  in  tracing  verbal  analogies  ;  and  if  research  were  di 
rected  towards  the  comparison  of  structure  and  grammatical 
forms,  the  result  would  doubtless  be  more  satisfactory.  The 
American  languages  are  distinguished  by  their  long  polysylla 
bic  terms,  and  by  their  complicated  system  of  inflection.  But 
these  terms  do  not  appear  to  have  been  originally  single  words, 
but  rather  to  be  compounded.  It  has  been  found,  says  Mi" 
Schoolcraft,  speaking  of  the  words  of  the  Algonquins,  that 
those  of  the  highest  antiquity  are  simple  and  brief.  "  Most  of 


*  History  of  Mexico,  vol.  i.  p.  393. 

f  Hum.  Res.,  vol.  ii.  p.  223.    Dr.  Lang's  View  of  the  Polynesian 
Nations,  p.  144. 


312  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

the  primitive  nouns  are  monosyllabic,  and  denote  but  a  single 
object  or  idea.  A  less  number  are  dissyllabic ;  few  exceed  this; 
and  it  may  be  questioned  from  the  present  state  of  the  exami 
nation,  whether  there  is  a  single  primitive  trisyllable.  The 
primitives  become  polysyllabic  by  adding  an  inflection  indicat 
ing  the  presence  or  absence  of  vitality,  (which  is  the  succeda- 
neum  for  gender,)  and  a  further  inflection  to  denote  number. 
They  also  admit  of  adjective  terminations.  Pronouns  are  de 
noted  by  particles  prefixed  or  suffixed.  The  genius  of  the  lan 
guage  is  accumulative,  and  tends  rather  to  add  syllables  or  let 
ters  making  further  distinctions  in  objects  already  before  the 
mind,  than  to  introduce  new  words.  A  simple  word  is  thus 
oftentimes  converted  into  a  descriptive  phrase,  at  once  formida 
ble  to  the  eye  and  the  ear;  and  it  is  only  by  dissecting  such 
compounds  that  the  radix  can  be  attained."  From  these  facts 
it  may  be  presumed  there  was  a  period  when  the  languages 
were  less  cumbersome  and  complex  than  at  present,  and  per 
haps  of  a  monosyllabic  character.  The  same  remark  applies 
to  the  Polynesian  languages,  which,  upon  being  analyzed,  ap 
pear  to  possess  a  monosyllabic  radical  basis. 

And  hence  it  may  be  interesting  to  examine  briefly  some 
affinities  in  the  mechanism  of  the  American  and  Polynesian 
languages.  In  the  American  there  is  a  universal  tendency  to 
express  in  the  same  word,  both  the  action  and  the  object.  In 
the  Polynesian,  "  verbs  not  only  express  the  action,  but  the 
manner  of  it  distinctly,  hence  to  send  a  message  would  be  orero, 
to  send  a  messenger  kono."*  In  the  American,  the  use  of  the 
verb  to  be  as  an  auxiliary  was  unknown,  and  its  place  was  sup- 

*  Tour  through  Hawaii,  by  Rev.  Wm.  Ellis,  p.  474. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  313 

plied  by  an  intransitive  verb,  or  by  an  inflection  or  particle.  In 
the  Polynesian,  says  Mr.  Ellis,  "  the  greatest  imperfections  we 
have  discovered  occur  in  the  degrees  of  the  adjectives,  and  the 
deficiency  of  the  auxiliary  verb  to  be,  which  is  implied,  but  not 
expressed.  The  natives  cannot  say  I  am,  or  it  is,  yet  they  can 
say  a  thing  remains  (as,  the  canoe  remains  there);  and  their 
verbs  are  used  in  their  participial  form  by  simply  adding  the 
termination  ana,  equivalent  to  ing  in  English."  In  the  lan 
guage  of  Chile,*  in  the  Cherokee  and  other  northern  languages, 
besides  a  singular  and  plural  there  is  a  dual  number  of  the  pro 
nouns  ;  in  the  Polynesian,  there  is  not  only  a  singular,  plural, 
and  dual,  but  a  double  dual  and  plural.  In  both  groups  of 
languages  the  degrees  of  comparison  are  expressed  by  distinct 
words.  The  inflections  of  person  and  number,  connected  with 
the  verb,  are  the  inflections  of  the  pronoun  and  not  of  the  verb,f 
nouns  and  adjectives  are  readily  converted  into  verbs,  and  verbs 
into  nouns  and  adjectives,  by  the  addition  or  suppression  of  par 
ticles  ;  and  indeed  the  general  principles  of  their  structure  and 
formation  seem  to  identify  these  languages  by  many  close  and 
striking  analogies. 

Mr.  Marsden  was  originally  of  opinion,  that  the  languages 
prevailing  on  the  western  coast  of  South  America,  had  not "  even 
the  most  remote  affinity  to  the  Polynesian ;"  and  he  extend 
ed  this  remark  also  to  those  of  the  aboriginal  nations  in  North 
America.  J  At  a  subsequent  period,  however,  he  appears  to 

*  Arte  de  la  Lengua  General  del  Reyno  de  Chile,  etc.,  por  el  P. 
Andres  Febres,  1764,  p.  11. 

t  Gallatin,  in  Arch.  Am.,  vol.  ii.  p.  196.     Ellis,  ibid. 

I  Miscell.  Works,  p.  61.  Hist.  Madagascar,  by  Rev.  Wm.  Ellis, 
vol.  i.  p.  493.  Tour  through  Hawaii,  p.  471. 

40 


314 


RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 


have  been  shaken  in  his  confidence  on  this  point,  by  Mr.  Ellis, 
who  had  observed  that  some  of  the  words  in  South  America 
were  of  a  Polynesian  character.  Dr.  Lang  has  added  to  the 
number  of  their  verbal  affinities,  and  by  indicating  at  the  same 
time  some  points  of  resemblance  between  the  Chinese  and  Po 
lynesian  languages  in  their  construction,  has  tended  to  supply 
the  necessary  link  of  connection  with  Asia. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  315 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  ABORIGINES.      ASTRONOMY. 

THE  civil  year  of  the  Mexicans  consisted  of  eighteen  months 
of  twenty  days,  and  by  the  addition  of  five  intercalary  days, 
which  were  called  void  or  waste  days — Nemontemi — contained 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days.  Four  weeks  of  five  days 
each  made  a  month*— eighteen  months  a  year — thirteen  solar 
years  a  small  cycle — four  of  these  cycles  formed  a  "  great 
year  "f — and  two  of  these  "  an  old  age  "  of  one  hundred  and 
four  years. 

The  civil  day,  like  that  of  the  Egyptians  and  most  of  the 
Asiatic  nations,  commenced  at  sunrise,  and  like  the  Hindoo  day 
was  divided  into  eight  intervals  or  periods,  four  of  which  were 
indicated  by  the  rising  and  setting  of  the  sun,  and  his  positions 
in  the  Nadir  and  Zenith.  The  cycles  of  fifty-two  years  were 
numbered  by  numerical  signs.  To  distinguish  particular  years 
in  this  cycle,  they  adopted  the  following  method,  used  also  in 
Thibet,  Indostan,  China,!  Japan,  and  Mongolia.  They  selected 
four  of  the  signs  of  the  days,  which  were  Tochtli — rabbit  or 

*  The  first  day  of  each  week  was  market-day. 

j  Toxiuhmolpia — the  tying  of  the  years. 

I  This  periodical  series  is  of  great  antiquity  in  China,  being  men 
tioned  in  the  Chou-King,  an  historical  work  bearing  the  date  of  B.  C. 
2300.  It  was  formed  by  a  combination  of  the  signs  of  the  ten  ele 
ments  with  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac. 


316  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

hare;  Acatl — a  cane;  Tecpatl — a  flint  or  knife;  and  Calli,  a 
house,  and  combined  them  successively  with  the  numerical  signs 
from  one  to  thirteen.  Thus  Tochtli  was  joined  to  the  signs  of 
the  numbers,  one,  five,  nine,  and  thirteen,  to  signify  the  first, 
fifth,  ninth,  and  thirteenth  years  of  the  small  cycle  of  thirteen 
years;  Acatl  was  joined  to  the  signs  of  the  numbers  two,  six,  ten, 
and  one,  to  signify  the  second,  sixth,  and  tenth  years  of  the  first 
cycle  of  thirteen  years,  and  the  first  year  of  the  second  cycle ; 
and  by  continuing  the  series  of  combinations  through  all  the  four 
smaller  cycles  composing  the  great  age  of  fifty-two  years,  no 
sign  was  repeated  twice  with  the  same  number,  and  every  year 
of  the  fifty-two  was  expressed  by  a  different  combination.* 

The  ancient  Yucatan  calendar  was  similar  to  that  of  the 
Toltecs  and  Aztecs,  and  the  year  was  divided  into  eighteen 
months  of  twenty  days.  The  year,  however,  it  is  thought,  com 
menced  on  the  twelfth  of  January,  and  the  five  void  days  which 
were  added  fell  at  the  end  of  the  month  Vaycab,  or  just  after 
the  summer  solstice.f  Five  Maya  years  constituted  a  lesser 
age,  and  four  of  these  made  a  great  age  of  twenty  years.  These 


*  "The  most  ancient  division  of  the  zodiac  is  that  into  four  parts. 
The  four  signs  of  the  equinoxes,  and  the  solstices,  chosen  from  a  se 
ries  of  twenty  signs,  the  number  of  days  in  the  Mexican  month,  recall 
to  mind  the  four  royal  stars,  Aldebaran,  Regulus,  Aritaes  and  Fo- 
mahault,  celebrated  in  all  Asia,  and  presiding  over  the  seasons.  In 
the  new  continent,  the  indictions  of  the  cycle  of  fifty-two  years, 
formed,  as  we  would  say,  the  four  seasons  of  the  grand  year ;  and  the 
Mexican  astrologers  were  pleased  to  see,  presiding  over  each  period 
of  thirteen  years,  one  of  the  four  equinoctial  or  solstitial  signs." — Al- 
bategnius  de  Scientia  Stellarum,  c.  2,  p.  3,  cited  by  Nuttall. 

f  Waldeck,  p.  22. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  317 

four  ages  or  periods  of  five  years,  took  their  names  from  the 
cardinal  points,  viz.,  1,  East,  Cach-haab ;  2,  West,  Hijx;  3, 
South,  Cavac ;  and  4,  North,  Muluc.  The  entire  age  of  twenty 
years  was  called  Katun,  and  a  record  of  these  eras,  as  they 
passed,  was  preserved  by  sculpturing  their  hieroglyphic  symbols 
upon  square  tablets  of  stone,  placed  one  above  another  in  the 
walls  of  their  edifices. 

Among  the  Muyscas,  the  day  was  divided  into  four  parts 
— three  days  made  a  week,  and  ten  weeks,  a  lunation  or 
month,  called  Suna,  which  commenced  the  day  after  the  full 
moon.  The  rural  year  was  composed  of  twelve  Sunas,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  third  year,  another  month  was  added,  a  me 
thod  similar  to  one  used  in  the  north  of  India  and  in  China.* 
The  civil,  or  vulgar  year  called  Zocam,  consisted  of  twenty 
Sunas  ;f  and  the  Ritual,  or  Sacred  year  of  thirty-seven  Sunas. 
Five  ritual  years  made  a  small  cycle,  and  four  of  these  small 
cycles  a  great  age  of  twenty  sacred  years,  equal  to  a  real  solar 
cycle  of  sixty  years,  an  astronomical  period  of  the  same  dura 
tion  as  one  used  in  Oriental  Asia.J  The  Muyscas  engraved 
calendar  stones,  whereon  the  years,  and  months,  and  days  were 
denoted.  In  recording  time,  and  distinguishing  the  days, 
months,  and  years,  they  adopted  a  system  of  periodical  series, 
similar  in  piinciple  to  that  employed  in  Mexico.  The  ten  num- 

*  Hist.  China,  by  J.  F.  Davis,  vol.  i.  p.  282. 

t  In  the  accounts  given  to  us  of  the  calendar  of  the  Muyscas,  there 
appears  to  be  some  confusion  in  relation  to  the  rural  and  civil  years  ; 
particularly  as  the  Zocam,  according  to  tradition,  began  at  the  full 
moon  succeeding  the  winter  solstice,  a  circumstance  which  is  clearly 
impossible  in  a  year  of  600  days. 

I  Hist.  China,  by  J.  F.  Davis,  ibid. 


318  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

bers,  indicated  by  hieroglyphic  figures,  ( and  which  it  has  been 
supposed,  mark  an  original  division  of  the  zodiac  into  ten 
signs,)  arranged  in  three  series,  represented  the  thirty  days  of  a 
lunation ;  and  by  the  extension  of  the  same  method  to  their 
religious  cycle,  the  first  month  of  the  first  year  was  denoted  by 
Ata,  or  the  hieroglyphic  for  the  number  one,  the  first  month  of 
the  second  year  by  Mica,  or  the  hieroglyphic  for  number  three, 
and  so  on  through  the  whole  cycle.* 

The  Peruvian  year  kuata,  from  huatani,  to  tie,f  was  divided 
into  twelve  months,  called  Quilla,  from  the  moon,  which  were 
strictly  lunar.  The  months  were  divided  into  light  and  dark 
halves,  which  were  subdivided  again  into  weeks  of  seven  days, 
according  to  Vega.  They  observed  the  return  of  the  solstices 
and  equinoxes,  by  means  of  towers  or  gnomons,  and  yet  Garcil- 
lasso  de  la  Vega  says,  they  failed  to  adjust  the  lunar  to  the 
solar  year.J  The  meager  accounts  which  have  been  transmit 
ted  in  relation  to  the  Peruvian  astronomy,  induce  a  suspicion 
that  the  Spaniards  were  but  imperfectly  informed  as  to  their 
cycles  and  methods  of  calculation.  Acosta  denies  that  either 
the  Mexicans  or  Peruvians  had  weeks  of  seven  days,  and  says 
that  the  year  anciently  commenced  on  the  first  of  January,  and 
was  altered  to  the  winter  solstice  by  the  Inca  Pachacutec.  It 
is  possible  that  a  clue  to  the  real  division  of  time,  or  to  the  con 
struction  of  one  of  their  calendars  is  afforded  in  the  eighteen 
niches  which  continually  recur  in  most  of  the  monuments,  and 
which  may  have  indicated  a  division  into  eighteen  months,  like 
the  Mexican  year. 

*  Hum.  Res.,  vol  ii.  pp.  105,  108,  123,  135,  etc. 
f  Vocabulario  de  la  Lengua  Qquichua,  p.  180. 
J  Vega,  vol.  i.  pp.  106,  108. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  319 

The  division  of  the  year  among  the  ruder  Indian  tribes  was 
lunar.  The  Araucanians  commenced  it  at  the  winter  solstice, 
their  calendar  was  divided  into  twelve  months  of  thirty  days, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  year  five  complementary  days  were  add 
ed  !*  The  months  were  called  cuyen,  from  a  word  signifying 
moon,  and  the  year  thipantu — the  course  of  the  sun.f  The  re 
maining  nations  reckoned  the  months  by  the  moons,  some  cal 
culating  twelve,  and  others  thirteen  to  the  year.J  Traces  of  a 
calendar  resembling  the  Mexican,  it  is  said,  have  been  found 
among  the  tribes  on  Nootka  sound,  along  the  north-west  coast. 

In  those  primitive  ages  to  which  we  must  revert  for  the 
origin  of  all  the  ancient  astronomical  systems,  the  first  division 
of  the  heavens  was  probably  taken  from  the  course  of  the  moon, 
as  the  most  conspicuous  object  when  the  stars  were  visible, 
and  from  the  arc  of  the  circle  traversed  each  night  by  that 
body,  as  indicated  by  the  most  remarkable  constellations.  The 
lunar  zodiac  formed  part  of  a  very  ancient  system  of  Arabian 
astronomy.  c<  As  in  the  solar  zodiac,  the  sun  was  observed 
from  month  to  month  to  pass  from  one  house  or  sign  to  another, 
so  the  moon  also  was  said  to  change  her  mansions  every  night. "§ 
From  a  similar  source  have  originated  the  Nacshatras,  or  houses 
of  the  moon,  in  the  Hindoo,  Chinese  and  other  Oriental  calen 
dars,  which  were  twenty-seven  or  twenty-eight  in  number ;  and 
also,  the  signs  of  the  days  among  the  Mexicans.  It  is  true, 
the  Mexican  month  of  twenty  days  does  not  correspond  with 
the  lunar  month,  nor  with  any  other  particular  astronomical 
period ;  and  it  is  not  easy  to  imagine  why  months  of  such  a 

*  Molina,  vol.  ii.  p.  85.  t  Febres,  pp.  82,  645. 

%  Charlevoix,  vol.  ii.  p.  173.     Loskiel,  p.  31. 
§  Landseer's  Sabsean  Res.,  p.  74. 


320  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

duration  were  adopted  in  their  calendar,  except  that  thereby  a 
convenient  multiple  was  afforded,  so  that  at  certain  times  the 
civil  and  ritual  calendar  should  coincide.  The  civil  months 
were  clearly  of  arbitrary  duration,  as  likewise  was  the  ritual 
year.  The  Mexican  ritual  year  consisted  of  twenty  months  of 
thirteen  days  each,  or  of  two  hundred  and  sixty  days  in  the  ag 
gregate.*  These  months  of  thirteen  days  do  not  correspond  ex 
actly  with  any  astronomical  period,  but  they  have  been  adopted 
originally,  as  a  measure  of  the  time  during  which  the  moon  was 
visible,  after  having  emerged  from  the  rays  of  the  sun,  up  to 
the  termination  of  its  second  quarter, — while  an  equal  period 
elapsed  from  the  full  of  the  moon  to  its  subsequent  immersionf 
— allowing  two  days,  during  which  its  actual  rising,  with  refer 
ence  to  the  stars,  may  not  easily  have  been  observed.  Hence  we 
perceive  that  the  most  ancient  calendar,  the  ritual  or  religious, 
was  lunar,  and  its  months  represented  half  lunations.  The 
Hindoos  also  divided  their  month  into  light  and  dark  halves, 
and  the  same  peculiarity  may  be  observed  in  the  Roman  calen 
dar,  derived  from  the  Etrurian, — the  term  Ides  being  derived 
from  iduare,  to  divide. 


*  Clavigero,  vol.  i.  p.  295.     Hum.  Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  281. 

|  "  The  ancient  Sabfeans,"  says  Mr.  Landseer,  "  do  not  appear  to 
have  possessed  artificial  spheres  whereby  to  ascertain  and  manifest 
the  actual  rising  of  a  combust  star,  that  is  to  say,  a  star  immersed  in 
the  rays  of  the  sun."  "  They  must  have  waited  until  they  actually 
saw  any  given  star,  before  they  announced  and  before  they  publicly 
celebrated  its  ascension. — Sabcean  Res.)  p.  177.  "  The  ancients  al 
lowed  twelve  days  for  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude  to  emerge  from 
the  solar  rays,  or,  according  to  some,  fourteen  days." — Sir  William 
DrummomVs  Memoir  on  the  Zodiacs  of  Denderah,  etc.,  p.  100. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  321 

At  the  termination  of  the  Mexican  cycle  of  fifty-two  years, 
the  civil  year  always  ended  at  the  winter  solstice,  as  did  that  of 
the  Chinese*  and  Hindoos.  At  this  time  they  allowed  for  the 
quarter  of  a  day  accumulating  yearly,  and  intercalated  thirteen 
days.  It  has,  however,  been  asserted  that  the  Mexicans  made 
an  intercalation  of  twenty-five  days  every  one  hundred  and  four 
years.  The  interruption  such  an  intercalation  would  have 
given  to  the  consecutive  series  of  thirteen  days,  engrafted  in 
their  astronomical  system,  would  tend  to  impart  a  doubt  as  to 
the  correctness  of  this  statement,  and  would  render,  a  priori,  the 
intercalation  of  twenty-six  days  eyery  one  hundred  and  four 
years,  or  of  thirteen  days  every  fifty-two  years  far  more  proba 
ble.  But  such  an  intercalation  would  be  too  much,  and  in  ten 
cycles  of  one  hundred  and  four  years  each,  or  in  one  thousand 
and  forty  years,  the  error  would  amount  to  nearly  seven  days. 
Now,  according  to  Humboldt,  in  the  Codex  Borgianus  of  Ve- 
letri,  ten  such  cycles,  or  one  thousand  and  forty  years,  appear 
represented  upon  four  successive  pages,  and  at  their  termina 
tion,  seven  days  are  in  fact  suppressed.  This  intercalation  of 
thirteen  days  every  fifty-two  years,  and  the  suppression  of  seven 
days  at  the  end  of  one  thousand  and  forty  years,  indicate  a  cal 
culation  of  the  length  of  the  year  at  about  three  hundred  and 
sixty-five  days  five  hours  and  fifty  minutes,  a  degree  of  accu 
racy  almost  incredible.f 

*  This,  it  is  said,  was  the  case  in  the  time  of  Yao,  B.  C.  2300. 
The  commencement  of  the  year  among  the  ancients  was  various;  by 
some  it  was  placed  at  the  winter,  and  by  others  at  the  summer  sol 
stice. 

t  The  Chiapanese  calendar  contained  the  same  divisions  and  pe 
riods  as  the  Mexican,  with  the  difference  that  the  days  were  called 

41 


322  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

From  the  very  earliest  periods  of  the  world,  some  of  the 
constellations  and  the  signs  of  the  zodiac  appear  to  have  been 
represented  by  animals,  and  we  discover  the  same  system  of 
symbols  in  America.  The  days  of  the  Mexican  month  were 
distinguished  by  the  following  signs : 

I.  Cipactli  .         .         .  A  sea  animal.* 

H.  Ehecatl  .         .         .  Wind. 

III.  Calli      ....  House. 

IV.  Cuetzpalin  .         .         .  Lizard. 

V.  Coatl  .         .         .  Serpent. 

VI.  Miquiztli  "...  Death. 

VII.  Mazatl  .         .         .  Stag. 

VIII.  Tochtli  .         .         .  Rabbit. 

IX.  Atl  ...         Water. 

X.  Itzcuintli        .         .         .         Dog. 
XL         Ozomatli        .         .         .         Ape. 

XII.  Malinalli        .         .         .         A  plant. 

XIII.  Acatl  Reed. 


after  the  names  of  Votan,  and  other  illustrious  men  of  their  ancestors. 
They  used  also  the  ssme  method  of  periodical  series  for  computing 
time. 

*  This  is  the  signification  given  by  Humboldt,  with  whose  opin 
ion  Betancourt  and  Clavigero  agree:  Boturini  and  Torquemada 
thought  otherwise.  The  Mexicans  had  likewise  a  series  of  nine  signs, 
which  presided  over  the  night;  and  the  number  has  appeared  so 
anomalous  in  their  system,  as  to  favor  the  opinion  of  its  foreign  ori 
gin.  Several  Asiatic  nations  have  nine  astrological  signs,  and  the 
same  number  is  sacred  among  the  Mongols  and  their  kindred  races, 
the  Chinese  and  the  Siamese. — Strahlenburgh,  p.  86.  Pallas,  vol.  i. 
p.  198.  Crawfurd's  Siam,  vol.  ii.  p.  104. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  323 

XIV.  Ocelotl  .  .  .  Tiger. 

XV.  Quauhtli         .  .  .  Eagle. 

XVI.  Cozcaquauhtli  .  .  A  bird. 

XVII.  Olin  Tonatiuh  .  .  Motion  of  the  Sun. 

XVIII.  Tecpatl          .  .  .  Flint. 

XIX.  Quiahuitl        .  .  .  Rain. 

XX.  Xochitl  .  .  .  Flower. 

To  represent  a  month,  these  signs  were  painted  in  a  wheel 
or  circle.  Four  of  these  signs  were  selected,  to  designate,  in 
combination  with  the  signs  of  the  numbers  up  to  thirteen,  the 
years  of  the  century,  as  mentioned  above,  and  of  these  four, 
Tochtli  or  Rabbit  was  the  sign  for  the  first  year  of  their  cen 
tury,  and  this  sign  was  considered  most  fortunate  and  propitious. 
Every  year  designated  by  the  sign  rabbit  commenced  with  the 
day  figured  by  Cipachtli,  a  sea  animal.  Clavigero  says,  the 
most  solemn  Mexican  festivals  were  those  of  the  divine  years, 
of  which  kind  were  all  those  years  which  had  the  rabbit  for 
their  denominative  character.  In  view  of  the  intimate  connec 
tion  between  astronomy  and  religion,  the  position  of  this  sign, 
so  as  to  lead  the  years,  is  evidence  of  its  antiquity,  and  sacred 
character.  And  perhaps  this  circumstance  may  serve  to  ex 
plain  the  curious  fact  that  the  Delawares  sacrificed  to  "  a  hare." 
Loskiel  says  it  was  because,  "  according  to  report,  the  first  an 
cestor  of  the  Indian  tribes  had  that  name."*  Charlevoix  gives 
the  story  more  in  detail ;  "  almost  all  of  the  Algonquin  nations," 
he  says,  "  have  given  the  name  of  the  Great  Hare  to  the  First 
spirit ;  some  call  him  Michabou,  others  Atahocan.  The  great 
est  part  say,  that  being  supported  on  the  waters  with  all  his 

*  Loskiel,  p.  40. 


324 


RESEARCHES  INTO  THE   ORIGIN  AND 


court,  all  composed  of  four-footed  creatures  like  himself,  he 
formed  the  earth  out  of  a  grain  of  sand,  taken  from  the  bottom 
of  the  ocean ;  and  created  men  of  the  dead  bodies  of  animals. 
There  are  some  also  that  speak  of  a  god  of  the  waters,  who  op 
posed  the  design  of  the  great  hare,  or  at  least  refused  to  favor 
it.  This  god  is,  according  to  some,  the  great  Tiger ;  but  it  is 
to  be  observed  there  are  no  true  tigers  in  Canada ;  therefore 
this  tradition  might  probably  be  derived  from  some  other 
country."* 

The  illustrious  Humboldt  instituted  a  comparison  between 
the  Mexican  symbols  of  the  days,  and  the  zodiacal  signs  em 
ployed  in  the  astronomical  systems  of  Eastern  Asia.  He  found 
four  of  these,  to  correspond  with  four  of  the  Hindoo  Nacshatras, 
or  Houses  of  the  Moon.  They  were  the  Mexican  Calli  and  the 
Hindoo  Magha,  represented  by  a  house;  the  Jlcatl  and  Venou, 
by  a  cane ;  the  Tecpatl  and  Crittica,  by  a  flint  or  knife ;  and  the 
Olin,  or  motion  of  the  sun,  denoted  by  the  prints  of  three  feet, 
and  the  Sravanna,  or  the  three  prints  of  the  feet  of  Vishnoo. 

Eight  of  these  signs  were  also  found  to  correspond  exactly 
with  an  equal  number  of  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac  of  the  Thibe- 
tians,  Chinese,  and  Mongols.  They  were  Ml — water;  Cipachtli 
— a  sea  animal;  Ocelotl — the  tiger;  Tochtli — the  hare  or  rabbit ; 
Ozomatli — the  ape;  Itzcuintli — the  dog;  Coatl — the  serpent; 
and  Quauhtli — a  bird;  all  bearing  the  same  names  in  those  Asi 
atic  zodiacs.  In  the  Zodiac  of  Bianchini,  a  mutilated  planis 
phere  discovered  at  Rome  in  1705,  the  same  philosopher  observed 
seven  signs  which  belonged  to  the  Tartar  zodiac,  three  of 
which,  the  dog,  the  hare,  and  the  ape  belong  also  to  the  Aztec 

*  Voyage,  vol.  ii.  p.  107. 


HISTORY   OF  THE  RED  RACE.  325 

zodiac.*  In  the  Siamese  zodiac  we  also  find  the  signs  of  the 
tiger,  the  hare,  the  serpent,  the  ape,  the  dog,  and  the  bird ;  and 
in  that  of  Japan,  the  same  signs  are  also  observed.! 

The  Mexican  sign  Tecpatl,  or  flint,  was  represented  by  a 
lance  or  arrow-head ;  and  the  terms  by  which  Sagittarius  was 
known  to  the  Arabians,  Chaldeans,  and  Persians,  all  signify 
arrows. J  The  Muysca  sign  Jlta,  or  water,  was  the  first  in  their 
system,  and  the  first  Chinese  asterism  was  Tse,  or  water.  The 
Mexican  Jltl,  a  hieroglyphic  zodiacal  sign  of  the  same  signifi 
cation,  was  represented  by  the  same  double  line  of  undulation, 
under  which  Aquarius  was  figured  by  the  ancients.§  ' 

The  Mexican  wheels,  or  circles,  containing  the  series  of 
hieroglyphics  indicating  a  cycle  of  fifty-two  years,  were  sur 
rounded  by  a  serpent  with  its  tail  in  its  mouth,  and  which 
pointed  out,  by  four  knots  in  its  body,  the  cardinal  points ;  the 
circumference  was  intersected  by  eight  triangular  radii.  These 
circles,  and  the  planispheres  formed  mostly  on  the  same  model, 
present  striking  analogies  to  the  Egyptian,  and  especially  to 
the  Circular  Zodiac  of  Denderah.  In  this  the  signs  are  arranged 
in  a  circle,  the  circumference  of  which  is  also  divided  into  eight 


*  Hum.  Res.,  vol.  i.  pp.  322,  337,  367. 

"  The  portions  of  the  duodenary  cycle  were  indicated  by  the  same 
animals  as  symbols,  among  the  Iranians,  Turanians  and  Chinese." — 
Drummond's  Origines^  vol.  i.  p.  390 ;  vol.  ii.  p.  169. 

t  Kempfer's  Japan,  in  Pinkerton,  vol.  i.  p.  722.  Crawfurd's  Siam, 
vol.  ii.  p.  19. 

J  Landseer's  Sabsean  Researches,  pp.  147,  137. 

§  Beltrami  speaks  of  a  calendar-stone  at  Tula,  in  Mexico,  upon 
which  were  represented  Aquarius,  the  Twins,  and  the  Virgin'? — 
Beltrami.  Le  Mexique,  vol.  ii.  pp.  92,  145,  166. 


326  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

sections;  around  winds  a  serpentine  line,  commencing  with 
Leo  and  terminating  with  Cancer,*  and  about  the  whole  is  a 
hieroglyphic  zone.f 

In  the  centre  of  the  Aztec  calendar-stone,  is  an  image  of 
the  Sun,  resembling  the  Hindoo  Kronos,  with  teeth  displayed 
and  a  protruding  tongue.  Sir  Wm.  Drummond,  in  his  Me 
moir  on  the  Egyptian  Zodiacs,!  observes  that  it  was  known  at 
a  remote  period,  that  the  sun  is  in  the  centre  of  the  planetary 
system,  with  the  earth  revolving  round  it;  and  the  circular 
form  of  the  Mexican  planisphere,  with  the  central  position  of 
the  sun,  suggests  that  the  Mexicans  were  also  acquainted  with 
that  fact.  The  Egyptians  and  Mexicans  intercalated  five  days 
at  the  end  of  the  year;  their  zodiacs  originally  commenced 
with  the  same  sign,  and  the  number  of  Mexican  weeks  of  thir 
teen  days  in  their  great  cycle  of  fifty-two  years,  is  precisely 
equal  to  the  number  of  years  in  the  great  Sothiac  period ;  the 
latter  coincidence,  however,  may  be  accidental.§ 

Those  wrho  have  contested  the  great  antiquity  of  the  Chi 
nese  and  Hindoo  astronomical  calculations,  have  been  to  much 
labor  in  proving,  that  the  astronomers  of  these  nations  were  in 
the  habit  of  making  back  calculations,  until  a  period  was  at 
tained  when  many  of  the  celestial  bodies  were  in  conjunction. 
This  opinion  is  of  no  more  importance  here  than  as  showing, 
that  those  ancient  people  were  acquainted  with  certain  great  as- 

*  Saulnier's  Observations  on  the  Circular  Zodiac  of  Denderah. 

f  The  Egyptians,  in  their  astronomical  representations,  says 
Denon,  bind  or  twine  two  serpents  round  a  globe.  Travels  in  Egypt, 
vol.  i.  p.  305. 

J  Origines,  vol.  ii.  p.  203. 

§  Hum.  Res.,  vol.  ii.  p.  229. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  327 

tronomical  periods  or  cycles,  at  the  expiration  of  which,  the 
stars,  planets,  sun,  and  moon  returned  to  the  same  places  in  the 
heavens.     This  fact,  in  conjunction  with  the  prevalent  idea  of 
the  eternity  of  matter,  probably  gave  rise  to  the  exaggerated 
notions  of  the  age  of  the  earth,  universal  among  these  nations, 
and  in  combination  with  the  tradition  of  the  deluge,  induced 
the  belief  of  the  Cataclysms,  or  that  at  the  end  of  these  great 
ages,  a  tremendous  convulsion  of  nature  took  place.     Thus 
Censorinus  says,  "  But  the  year  which  Aristotle  calls  the  great 
est,  rather  than  the  great,  is  that  in  which  the  sun  and  moon, 
and  all  the  planets  complete  their  courses,  and  return  to  the 
same  sign  from  which  they  originally  started  together.     The 
winter  of  this  year  is  the  Cataclysm,  which  we  call  the"  deluge, 
but  its  summer  is  the  Ecpyrosis,  that  is,  the  conflagration  of  the 
world:  for  at  these  alternate  seasons,   the  world   is   burned 
and  deluged."*     The  Egyptians  preserved  "  in  written  records 
the  memory  of  the  event,  that  since  the  commencement  of  the 
Egyptian  race,  the  stars  have  completed  four  revolutions,  and 
the  sun  has  twice  set  where  he  now  rises."f     We  find  Cata 
clysms  in  the  traditions  of  the  Celts,  but  in  accordance  with 
their  system  of  Triads,  there  had  been  only  three.     The  first 
was  a  deluge,  in  which  all  mankind,  save  two,  were  destroyed. 
The  second,  a  conflagration  which  was  destructive  to  the  great 
est  part  of  the  human  race,  and  the  third  was  a  scorching  sum 
mer,  fatal  alike  to  vegetation,  animals,  and  men.J     The  Mexi 
can  and  Acolhuan  traditions  borrowed  from  the  Toltecs,  stated 

*  Censorinus  de  Natali  Die  in  Cory,  p.  323.     Seneca  Nat.  Q,ueest. 
cxi.  29. 

f  Pomponius  Mela,  in  Cory's  Ancient  Fragments,  p.  163. 
I  Welsh  Archaeology,  vol.  ii.  p.  57. 


328  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

that  the  world  had  undergone  four  periodical  revolutions,  after 
which  the  sun  was  created  for  the  fifth  time.  The  first  age 
was  terminated  by  a  great  famine — the  second  by  fire — the 
third  by  tempests,  and  the  fourth  by  a  deluge.* 

The  Maya  traditions  described  three  ages,  the  last  of  which 
was  terminated  by  an  inundation  ;f  at  the  end  of  their  great 
cycles  they  went  in  religious  processions  to  their  sacred  places 
and  temples,  probably  to  intercede  with  the  gods  against  the 
return  of  these  periodical  calamities.  The  Peruvians  appear  to 
have  had  similar  traditions,  and  they  believed  that  the  world 
would  perish  at  the  end  of  one  of  the  ages ; J  processions  and 
sacrifices,  similar  to  those  made  by  the  Mexicans,  were  custo 
mary  with  the  Muyscas  at  the  end,  or  rather  the  opening  of 
each  great  cycle,  and  they  were  probably  based  upon  the  same 
superstition. §  The  Brahmins  generally  taught  the  same  opin 
ion,  and  four  ages,  terminated  by  precisely  the  same  causes,  are 
mentioned  in  some  of  the  old  Hindoo  authorities.  A  tradition 
of  a  fifth  age,  like  the  Mexican,  existed  in  Thibet.  || 

It  was  believed  by  the  Mexicans  upon  the  faith  of  a  tradi 
tion,  that  the  destruction  of  the  world  would  again  take  place 

*  Hum.  Res.,  vol.  ii.  p.  20.  Clavigero  says  the  fourth  age  had 
not  yet  terminated — vol.  i.  p.  289 — and  he  changes  the  order  of  the 
ages.  The  Siamese  also  believe  in  the  successive  destructions  and 
reproductions  of  the  earth.  CrawfurcPs  Siam,  vol.  ii.  p.  66. 

t  Waldeck,  pp.  37,  46. 

J  Lafitau,  p.  229. 

§  Pike  mentions  a  tradition  among  some  of  the  western  Indians 
that  the  world  would  be  destroyed  by  another  deluge  at  some  future 
period.  Expedition,  p.  78. 

||  Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  ii.  p.  171.  Hum.  Res.,  vol.  ii.  pp.  16, 
245. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  329 

at  the  end  of  a  great  cycle.  The  five  intercalary  days,  which 
ended  the  last  year  of  the  age  of  fifty-two  years,  were  spent  in 
great  mourning,  in  anticipation  of  this  dreadful  catastrophe. 
Then  garments  were  rent,  and  all  the  domestic  utensils  de 
stroyed  as  being  of  no  further  use,  and  on  the  fifth  day,  the  sa 
cred  fires  were  extinguished  in  all  the  temples.  On  the  eve 
ning  of  this,  the  last  day,  when  the  Pleiades  had  crossed  the 
meridian,  which  was  the  indication  that  the  dreaded  calamity 
would  not  occur,  the  sacred  fire  was  again  kindled,  and  at  this 
signal  from  the  summits  of  the  Teocalli,  the  land  was  filled 
with  rejoicings.  When,  finally,  the  reappearance  of  the  sun  in 
the  morning  confirmed  their  safety,  anxiety  was  at  an  end  and 
mutual  congratulations  were  exchanged.  This  remarkable 
custom  finds  its  counterpart  in  Egypt.  "  When  the  Egyptians 
saw  the  sun  descend  from  the  Crab  towards  Capricorn,  and  the 
days  gradually  diminish,  they  were  accustomed  to  sorrow  from 
the  apprehension  that  the  sun  was  about  to  abandon  them  en 
tirely.  This  epoch  corresponded  with  the  festival  of  Isis ;  but 
when  the  orb  began  to  reappear,  and  the  duration  of  the  days 
grew  longer,  they  robed  themselves  in  white  garments,  and 
crowned  themselves  with  flowers."* 

The  Goddess  of  the  Syrians,  according  to  Macrobius,  was 
"  feigned  to  lament  when  the  sun,  in  his  annual  progress  through 
the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac,  enters  a  part  of  the  lower  hem 
isphere.  WThen  the  sun  arrives  in  the  lower  signs,  and  the  days 
begin  to  shorten,  Venus  is  represented  as  lamenting  him,  as  if 
he  were  snatched  away  by  death,  and  detained  by  Proserpine." 
"  Again  they  pretend  that  Adonis  is  restored  to  Venus  when 

*  Achilles  Tatius.    See  also  Herod.  Euter.,  142,4.    Bucolics,  v.  4, 

42 


330  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE   ORIGIN  AND 

the  sun,  having  made  his  way  through  the  six  inferior  signs,  "be 
gins  to  traverse  the  regions  of  our  upper  hemisphere."*  Mr. 
Pritchard,  in  citing  this  passage,  remarks,  that  the  same  customs 
prevailed  in  Egypt  under  different  names,  and  quotes  an  ex 
tract  from  Plutarch  to  the  effect,  that  "  the  common  time  for  the 
solemnization  of  these  festivals  was  within  that  month  in  which 
the  Pleiades  appear."! 

The  Chinese,  Hindoos  and  other  primitive  nations  had  a 
tradition  of  a  time  when  the  colure  of  the  equinox  intersected 
the  constellation  of  the  Pleiades.  With  the  Arabs,  their  rising 
with  the  sun,  anciently  betokened  the  return  of  spring,  and  their 
setting,  autumn.J  They  rose  heliacally  in  the  age  of  Taurus, 
and  when  the  sun  passed  into  Aries,  they  naturally  still  re 
mained  for  many  years  the  sign  of  the  vernal  season  .§  In 
Greece,  their  heliacal  rising  was  considered  favorable  to  mar- 
riners,  and  indicated  also  the  seasons  to  the  husbandman.||  Ac 
cording  to  Censorinus,1F  some  of  the  ancients  began  "  the  year 


*  The  Indian  Vishnoo  slept  through  the  winter  months  and  rose 
in  the  spring.     The  priests  of  Adonis  lamented  his  annual  wound, 
when  the  sun,  after  the  autumnal  equinox,  had  descended  to  the  lower 
hemisphere.    Drummond's  Origines,  vol.  ii.  p.  414. 
f  Pritchard's  Egyptian  Mythology,  p.  65. 
+  Landseer,  pp.  323, 115. 
§  "  When  Atlas-born,  the  Pleiad  stars  arise 
Before  the  sun,  above  the  dawning  skies, 
'Tis  time  to  reap ;  and  when  they  sink  below 
The  morn-illumined  west,  'tis  time  to  sow." 

Hesiod.  Trans. 

||  Theoc.,  Idyll  xiii.  v.  25.     Vide  Herod.,  1.  ii.  c.  57. 
If  In  Cory,  p.  328.    Pliny,  lib,  xviii.  c.  25. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  331 

from  the  rising  or  setting  of  Vergilia"  (Pleiades),  and  this 
constellation  occupied  an  equally  important  position  in  the  as 
tronomical  systems  of  Eastern  Asia.*  The  Mexicans  and  other 
nations  of  Anahuac,  as  we  have  seen,  marked  the  termination 
of  their  great  cycles  by  these  stars,  and  celebrated  their  passage 
over  the  meridian  by  rejoicings.  The  Peruvians  appear  to 
have  regarded  the  same  constellation  with  veneration,!  and  the 
Araucanians  knew  and  named  these  stars.J  The  Tapuyas,  the 
oldest  race  in  Brazil,  watched  the  rise  of  the  Pleiades,  and  wor 
shipped  them  with  songs  and  dances.§  The  Abipones,  says 
Dobrizhoffer,  think  the  Pleiades  "  to  be  the  representation  of 
their  grandfather,  and  as  that  constellation  disappears  at  cer 
tain  periods  from  the  sky  of  South  America,  upon  such  occa 
sions,  they  suppose  that  their  grandfather  is  sick,  and  are  un 
der  a  yearly  apprehension  that  he  is  going  to  die ;  but  as  soon 
as  those  seven  stars  are  again  visible  in  the  month  of  May,  they 
welcome  their  grandfather  as  if  returned  and  restored  from  sick 
ness,  with  joyful  shouts  and  the  festive  sound  of  pipes  and 
trumpets."||  Intermediate  America  and  Asia,  the  same  stars  were 
watched  by  the  Polynesian  islanders,  and  their  rising  (heliacal) 
divided  the  year  of  the  Society  islands  into  two  seasons. IT 

All  the  nations  of  the  East,  appear  to  have  hailed  with  re- 

*  Hum.  Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  387. 

t  Vega,  vol.  i.  p.  106. 

\  Molina,  vol.  ii.  p.  85. 

§  Southey's  Hist.  Brazil,  vol.  i.  p.  380.     Dobrizhoffer,  vol.  ii.  p.  94. 

||  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  65. 

Tf  Polynesian 'Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  79.  The  Javanese  anciently 
regulated  the  season  of  sowing  by  the  appearance  of  the  Pleiades. — 
Crawford's  Ind.  Archipelago,  vol.  i.  p.  300. 


332  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE   ORIGIN  AND 

joicings  the  appearance  of  the  first  new  moon  of  the  year,  or 
the  first  new  moon  after  the  vernal  equinox.  In  the  fourth 
Mexican  month,  which  lasted  from  the  ninth  to  the  twenty- 
ninth  of  March,  was  celebrated  the  Cohuailhuitl,  or  festival  of 
the  Snake.  This  was  the  season  of  the  vernal  equinox,  and 
the  festival  was  in  honor  of  the  goddess  Cihuacohuatl,  or  the 
woman  serpent.  Now  the  moon  was  often  anciently  denoted 
by  the  figure  of  a  dragon,  which  was  a  known  emblem  of  light 
in  its  darting  motion.  Accordingly,  even  among  the  barbarous 
tribes  of  America,  when  eclipses  occurred,  they  superstitiously 
believed  that  the  sun  was  attacked  by  a  great  dragon  or  ser 
pent,  an  idea  probably  derived  from  the  figure  of  the  animal 
by  which  the  moon  was  usually  represented. 

In  relation  to  the  Egyptian  legends,  wherein  it  is  said  that 
the  body  of  Osiris  was  cut  into  pieces  by  Typhon,  Plutarch  re 
marks,  that  "  those  who  join  with  the  physiological  accounts, 
certain  mathematical  matters  relative  to  astronomy,  suppose 
Typhon  to  mean  the  orb  of  the  sun,  and  Osiris  that  of  the 
moon."  So  likewise  in  the  Mexican  mythology,  we  read  of 
the  woman  serpent  or  the  Moon,  devoured  by  the  Sun,  a  myth 
probably  descriptive  of  the  change  in  the  phases  of  the  moon. 
It  thus  appears  probable  that  in  the  Mexican,  as  well  as  in  the 
ancient  astronomy,  the  serpent  was  one  of  the  emblems  of  the 
moon ;  and  as  in  Mexico,  the  woman  serpent  or  moon,  was 
styled  "  mother  of  our  flesh,"  so  in  Egypt,  that  luminary  was 
called  "  mother  of  the  world."f 

*  Landseer's  Sabsean  Res.,  p.  78.  Humboldt's  Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  290. 
Clavigero,  vol.  i.  p.  246.  Hymns  of  Callimachus. 

t  Pritchard's  Egyptian  Mythology,  p.  72.  The  Egyptians  ap 
pear  to  have  know  the  constellation  of  the  Great  Bear  by  that  name. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  333 

The  superstition  just  referred  to,  appears  to  have  been  com 
mon  to  nations  in  both  continents.  The  Mexicans  believed 
when  there  was  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  or  moon,  that  one  of  those 
bodies  was  being  devoured  by  the  other.  On  these  occasions 
they  displayed  great  grief,  and  to  terminate  the  conflict,  dis 
charged  their  arrows  towards  the  heavens ;  they  also  beat  their 
dogs  and  servants,  in  hopes  that  by  their  howling  and  cries  the 
same  result  would  be  produced.  The  Peruvians  believed  these 
phenomena  portended  some  great  calamity ;  that  the  eclipsed 
body  was  sick  and  about  to  die,  in  which  case  the  world  would 
perish.  As  soon  as  an  eclipse  commenced  they  made  a  dread 
ful  noise  with  their  musical  instruments ;  they  struck  their  dogs 
and  made  them  howl,  "  in  the  hope  that  the  moon,  which  they 
believed  had  an  affection  for  those  animals  in  consequence  of 
some  signal  service  which  they  had  rendered  her,  would  have 
pity  on  their  cries."*  The  Araucanians  called  eclipses  the 
"  deaths  "  of  the  Sun  and  Moon.f  The  Remos,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Ucayale,  have  similar  notions,  and  discharge  arrows  to 
wards  the  heavens,  believing  that  some  wild  beast  is  devouring 
the  eclipsed  body.J  "  If  an  eclipse  happens,"  says  Charlevoix, 
speaking  of  the  Indians  of  Canada,  "  they  imagine  there  is  some 
great  combat  in  the  heavens,  and  they  shoot  many  arrows  into 
the  air,  to  drive  away  the  pretended  enemies  of  the  sun  and 
moon.  The  Hurons,  when  the  moon  is  eclipsed,  fancy  that  she 

— Drummond's  Origines,  vol.  ii.  p.  176.  Saulnier's  Observations  on 
the  Zodiac  of  Denderah.  The  Indians  of  Canada,  says  Charlevoix, 
"  give  the  name  of  the  Bear  to  the  four  first  of  those  we  call  the  Great 
Bear."  Voyage,  vol.  ii.  p.  172.  Tanner's  Narrative,  p.  321. 

*  Vega,  vol.  i.  p.  108.  t  Molina,  vol.  ii.  p.  84. 

J  Smyth's  Narrative,  etc.,  p.  230. 


334  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

is  sick,  and  to  recover  her  from  this  sickness,  they  make  a  great 
noise,  and  accompany  this  noise  with  many  ceremonies  and  pray 
ers  ;  and  they  never  fail  to  fall  upon  the  dogs,  with  sticks  and 
stones,  to  set  them  a  yelping,  because  they  believe  the  moon 
loves  those  animals."* 

The  Chinese,  Malays,  and  Hindoos  had  similar  supersti 
tions.  In  China,  according  to  Grosier,  when  an  eclipse  occurs, 
a  frightful  noise  of  drums  and  cymbals  is  made ;  the  Chinese 
"  think  that  by  such  a  horrid  din,  they  assist  the  suffering  lumi 
nary,  and  prevent  it  being  devoured  by  the  celestial  dragon. "f 
In  every  improved  language  of  the  Indian  archipelago,  says 
Mr.  Crawfurd,  "  an  eclipse  is  called  Grahana,  and  the  dragon 
which  the  Hindus  suppose  attempts  to  devour  the  luminary, 
Rahuj  both  of  them  pure  Sanscrit  words."  "  The  Malays  some 
times  call  an  eclipse,  c  the  devouring  by  the  dragon,'  makan 
Rahu.  There  is  to  this  day  hardly  a  country  of  the  archipelago, 
in  which  the  ceremony  of  frightening  the  supposed  monster 
from  his  attack  on  the  luminary  is  not  performed.  This  con 
sists  in  shouting,  in  striking  gongs,  but  above  all,  in  striking 
their  stampers  against  the  sides  of  the  wooden  mortars."J 

The  astronomical  analogies  which  have  been  thus  briefly 
detailed  are  of  great  extent,  and  indicate  an  origin  at  some  an 
cient  epoch.  They  do  not  prove  that  the  civilized  Americans 
came  either  from  Egypt,  Etruria,  or  Hindoostan,  but  at  the 
same  time,  they  give  rise  to  the  idea,  that  many  of  these  affin 
ities  were  derived  from  some  primitive  and  common  source. 

*  Voyage,  vol.  i.  p.  173. 

|  Grosier's  China,  vol.  ii.  p.  438.    Barrow,  p.  191. 
J  Crawfurd's  Indian  Archipelago,  vol.  i.  p.  305.    Marsden's  Su 
matra,  p.  194. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  335 

They  increase  in  weight,  however,  as  we  approach  Oriental 
Asia;  there  we  find  among  the  Siamese  and  Javanese  the 
months  divided  into  light  and  dark  halves  ;*  and  there  also,  is 
the  only  appearance  of  a  method  of  computing  time  similar  to 
the  Mexican.  The  Mexican  week  was  composed  of  five  days, 
and  on  every  fifth  day,  their  fair  or  great  market  was  held.f 
The  week  in  Eastern  Asia,  as  derived  from  Hindoostan,  con 
sisted  of  seven  days,  and  as  such  was  known  to  the  Java 
nese  and  Siamese.  But  it  is  curious  that  the  original  na 
tive  Javanese  week  consists  of  five  days,  and  its  principal  use 
"  is  to  determine  the  markets  or  fairs;"  this  week  is  called  Pa- 
kanan,  or  market-time.  Of  the  etymology  of  the  words  desig 
nating  the  five  days,  nothing  is  known ;  but  the  week  appears 
to  form  a  part  of  an  ancient  civil  calendar,  existing  before  they 
had  any  communication  with  the  Hindoos,  the  relics  of  which 
are  insufficiently  understood.  It  seems  clear,  however,  that 
the  divisions  into  which  the  year  was  divided,  in  this  system, 
related  to  no  astronomical  period,  but  were  of  arbitrary  dura 
tion  like  the  Mexican  months.  The  year  was  divided  into 
thirty  months,  which  Mr.  Crawfurd  thinks  each  expressed  half 
lunations ;  and  one  of  the  native  cycles,  probably  related  to  the 
same  calendar,  like  the  Maya  age  consisted  of  twenty  years.J 

The  examination  of  the  astronomical  knowledge  of  the 
Mexicans  and  other  American  nations,  satisfactorily  indicates 
not  only  the  existence  of  accurate  ideas  of  the  movements  and 


*  They  reckoned  according  to  the  days  of  the  divisions,  and  not 
of  the  whole  month.     Crawfurtfs  Siam,  vol.  ii.  p.  19. 
t  Clavigero,  vol.  i.  p.  293. 
J  Crawfurd's  Indian  Archipelago,  vol.  i.  pp.  292,  304. 


336  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

relations  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  but  also  a  series  of  observations 
continued  for  many  ages.*  These  systems  were  partly  of  na 
tive  origin,  but  in  their  numerous  analogies  to  those  of  other 
ancient  nations,  we  discover  relics  of  a  high  antiquity,  and 
which  justify  the  conclusion  that  they  are  the  remains  of  a 
primitive  system  of  astronomy,  the  characteristic  features  of 
which,  have  been  more  or  less  preserved  by  almost  every  an 
cient  civilized  people.  They  afford,  therefore,  the  highest 
and  clearest  evidence  of  early  cultivation,  and,  in  determining 
the  epoch  of  the  migration  to  this  continent,  carry  us  back  to 
that  period  when  mankind  were  first  scattered  abroad  over  the 
face  of  all  the  earth. 

There  are  some  circumstances  which  have  induced  antiqua 
rians  to  suspect,  that  the  ancients  were  skilled  in  Optics,  and 
applied  their  knowledge  in  that  science  to  the  prosecution  of 
celestial  observations,  a  conclusion,  which  the  perfection  at 
tained  in  astronomy  appears  to  favor.  Sir  W.  Drummond,  and 
other  writers,  have  cited  some  curious  passages  from  the  authors 
of  antiquity,  corroborative  of  this  conjecture.  Thus  Aristotle 
says,  that  the  Greeks  employed  mirrors  when  they  surveyed  the 
heavens ;  the  Pythagoreans  asserted,  that  the  surface  of  the 
moon  was  diversified  by  mountains  and  valleys;  the  Greeks 
used  burning  mirrors  of  glass,  and  concave  and  convex  metallic 
mirrors,  according  to  Suidas  and  Plutarch ;  and  there  was  a 

*  In  their  paintings,  eclipses  and  the  appearance  of  comets  were 
marked.  Boturini  stated  that  the  eclipse  of  the  sun  which  happened 
at  the  death  of  the  Saviour  was  denoted  in  the  paintings,  in  the  year 
7,  Tochtli ;  and  Clavigero,  in  commenting  upon  this  assertion,  says 
that  he  found  the  30th  year  of  our  era  to  correspond  with  7,  Tochtli. 
—Hist.  Mexico,  vol.  i.  p.  87. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  337 

report  among  the  same  people,  that  Pythagoras  had  shown  let 
ters  written  on  the  disk  of  the  moon,  by  means  of  a  mirror. 
Strabo  remarks,  that  "  vapors  produce  the  same  effects  as  the 
tubes,  in  magnifying  objects  of  vision  by  refraction,"  and  he 
also  says,  that  a  large  mirror  was  elevated  on  the  summit  of 
the  Temple  of  the  Sun,  at  Hieropolis  in  Egypt,  and  another  at 
Pharos.  M.  Bailie  asserts,  the  ancients  knew  that  the  milky 
way  consisted  of  stars ;  and  the  Persians  had  a  tradition  to  the 
same  effect;  from  the  number  of  stars  which,  according  to 
Pliny,  had  been  counted  in  his  time,  the  same  conjecture  is  sup 
ported  ;  and  the  missionaries  found  more  stars  marked  in  the 
celestial  charts  of  the  Chinese  than  formerly  existed  in  those  of 
Europe.  Democritus  likewise  said,  that  some  of  the  planetary 
bodies  were  unknown  to  the  Greeks.  The  Chaldeans  asserted 
that  they  had  discovered  more.  These,  it  would  seem,  could  only 
have  been  the  satellites  of  Jupiter,  and  perhaps  of  Saturn.  That 
the  Brahmins  had  discovered  these  satellites,  may  be  strongly 
inferred  from  their  reckoning  the  planetary  bodies  to  be  fifteen 
in  number.  A  similar  supposition  has  been  made  in  relation 
to  the  Druids,  of  whom  Diodorus  Siculus  says,  that  they  brought 
the  sun  and  moon  near  to  them.  The  exquisite  engraving  of 
the  gems  found  in  Egypt,  needing  the  aid  of  the  microscope  in 
its  execution,  indicates  the  same  fact  in  that  country.  The 
learned  authors,*  from  whose  researches  these  authorities  have 
been  taken,  seem  to  have  overlooked  another  curious  circum 
stance  corroborative  of  this  conjecture — the  use  of  mirrors  in 
the  ancient  religious  ceremonies.  The  Etruscan  patera  found 


*  Drummond's  Origines,  vol.  ii.  p.  246.     Higgins's  Celtic  Druids. 
Davies'  Celtic  Researches,  p.  192. 

43 


338  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

in  the  sepulchral  chambers,  upon  which  scenes  of  mythological 
history  are  often  engraven,  were  probably  real  mirrors,  and  had 
some  connection  with  the  sacerdotal  office.*  The  same  misno 
mer  was  given  to  the  silver  paterae  in  Egypt,  by  Quintus  Curtius,f 
when  speaking  of  the  ceremonies  practised  by  the  priests  of 
Ammon,  when  they  consulted  the  oracles.  The  custom  was, 
he  says,  to  carry  the  image  of  the  deity  in  a  golden  ship, 
on  each  side  of  which  hung  many  silver  paterae.  The  Delphic 
priests  were  also  known  by  the  name  of  Paterae.^  In  Hindoo- 
stan,  Kali,  the  wife  or  goddess  of  Siva,  who  represented  time 
the  destroyer,  is  sometimes  represented  with  a  mirror  in  her 
hand.  The  Chinese  circular  mirrors  are  like  those  still  found 
in  Egypt,§  metallic  mirrors  are  found  in  the  Mongolian  mounds 
in  Siberia,  and  we  know  that  they  are  still  employed  by  the 
Mongols  in  the  Budhaistic  religious  ceremonies.  In  Mexico, 
we  are  told  that  in  one  of  the  temples  there  was  "  a  house  of 
mirrors,"  and  the  name  of  the  Mexican  god  "  Tezcatlipoca," 
who  was  the  prototype  of  the  Hindoo  Siva,  signifies  "  Shining 
Mirror."||  To  this  may  be  added  the  testimony  of  Ulloa,  who, 
speaking  of  a  mirror  seen  by  him,  which  had  been  taken  from 
one  of  the  Peruvian  mounds,  which  was  concave,  and  greatly 
magnified  objects,  remarks,  "  I  have  seen  them  of  all  kinds, 
(convex,  plane,  and  concave,)  and  from  the  delicacy  of  the 
workmanship  one  would  have  thought,  these  people  had  been 
furnished  with  all  kinds  of  instruments  and  completely  skilled 
in  optics."!! 

*  Anthon's  Class.  Diet,  Etruria.      f  Liber  iv.  c.  7. 

$  Bryant's  Myth.,  vol.  i.  p.  308.       §  Davis's  China,  vol.  ii.  p.  230. 

||  Clavigero,  vol.  i.  p.  244.  T[  Ulloa,  vol.  i.  p.  495. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  339 


CHAPTER    IX. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  ABORIGINES.      RELIGION. 

PHILOSOPHY  and  history  alike  sustain  the  position,  that  the 
sentiment  of  religion  is  common  to  the  whole  human  race,  and 
is  an  element  in  the  very  constitution  of  our  moral  nature.  A 
clear  distinction,  however,  may  be  drawn  between  such  reli 
gious  systems  as  appear  to  be  pure  inventions  of  man,  and  such 
as  present  internal  evidence  of  having  been  transmitted  by  tra 
dition  from  the  primitive  ages  of  the  world.  In  the  latter  class 
we  find  ideas  the  origin  of  which  cannot  be  traced  to  the  light 
of  nature  or  the  human  reason,  though  when  once  known,  both 
nature  and  reason  testify  to  their  truth.  The  belief  in  one  Su 
preme  Being,  seems  to  be  a  characteristic  exponent  of  this  kind, 
tending  to  indicate,  when  existent  among  nations  unreclaimed 
by  Christianity,  that  they  have  received  this  noblest  portion  of 
their  faith  from  an  ancient  traditionary  source.  The  human 
mind  in  a  depraved  and  unenlightened  state,  is  not  capable  of 
arriving  by  its  own  strength  at  the  idea  of  unity  in  the  govern 
ing  power  of  the  Universe,  but  on  the  contrary,  the  natural 
course  of  reasoning  with  degraded  and  barbarous  tribes  seems 
always  to  have  resulted  in  Polytheism.  Every  manifestation 
of  power  is  attributed  to  the  agency  of  a  distinct  and  indepen 
dent  spirit.  The  first  step  is  to  conceive  the  existence  of  evil 
spirits.  The  beneficent  powers  of  nature — those  agencies  work 
ing  gradually  and  unseen,  for  the  production  of  good  throughout 


340  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

the  earth,  are  so  quiet  in  their  progress,  and  imperceptible  in 
their  action  as  to  escape  the  observation  of  an  ignorant  and 
unreflective  mind ;  but  the  sudden  and  active  operations  of  the 
elements,  which  sweep  on  in  violence,  leaving  death  and  ruin 
in  their  track,  are  palpable  developments  of  power,  and  being 
superior  to  human  control,  are  attributed  to  deities  of  evil  dis 
position.  Thus  the  winds  and  waves,  the  lightning,  thunder, 
and  tempest  are,  at  the  same  time,  feared  and  worshipped.  As 
observation  becomes  more  extended,  as  man  advances  in  ac 
quaintance  with  the  laws  of  matter, — the  calmer  changes  of 
nature,  which  are  always  working  in  goodness,  are  perceived ; 
his  religion  then  expands  into  a  purer  belief,  and  benign  spirits 
are  created.  But  even  in  a  higher  civilization,  equal  to  the 
most  intellectual  days  of  Greece,  the  Polytheism  originated  in 
darker  ages  retains  its  grasp  upon  the  soul. 

It  has  been  doubted,  and  with  considerable  force,  whether 
from  the  brighter  light  and  clearer  evidences  of  modern  science, 
— all-penetrating,  all-grasping, — Natural  Theology  can  claim, 
as  its  own  fruit,  the  proof  of  the  existence  of  one  God,  indepen 
dent  of  the  previous  illuminations  of  revelation  ;  but  it  certainly 
cannot  be,  that  barbarism,  without  such  divine  aid,  direct  or 
traditionary,  can  reach  so  lofty,  so  august  a  conception.  The 
attribution  of  all  the  operations  of  nature,  apparently  so  discor 
dant  in  their  action,  and  so  dissimilar  in  their  origin,  to  one 
controlling  power,  is  attained  and  proved  by  the  results  of 
modern  science  and  observation,  only  through  that  strict  and 
searching  examination  which  has  developed  a  harmonious  sys 
tem  of  regulation  pervading  the  whole, — a  system,  by  which 
effects,  the  most  diverse  in  their  character  and  appearance,  are 
deduced  from  the  same  laws  acting  upon  different  bodies,  in 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  341 

different  states.  Thus  we  know  that  the  whole  universe,  in  its 
lowest  and  most  insignificant  parts, — in  its  minutest  details,  as 
well  as  in  its  grandest  sphere  of  action,  is  constituted  under  a 
few  fundamental  laws,  conceived  in  the  highest  wisdom,  plan 
ned  with  the  most  wonderful  skill,  and  acting  in  the  most  con 
summate  order  and  harmony.  It  is  from  these  evidences  of  de 
sign,  and  above  all  from  this  harmonious  action  of  the  princi 
ples  of  nature,  triumphantly  developed  and  confirmed  by  every 
successive  discovery  in  natural  philosophy,  that  natural  theology 
has  deduced  its  noblest  truths.  Surely  then,  the  human  mind, 
in  a  state  of  degradation  and  rudeness, — benighted  and  uncul 
tivated,  cannot  be  deemed  capable  of  attaining  a  conclusion, 
which  has  been  awarded  only  to  the  most  advanced  state  of 
knowledge  the  world  has  yet  known.  And  if  this  be  true,  that 
wondrous  part  of  the  Indian  faith,  the  belief  in  the  existence  of 
One  Supreme  Being,  is  not  of  indigenous  origin,  but  transmitted 
from  a  primitive  source.  The  same  course  of  reasoning  may 
be  applied  to  the  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  a  fu 
ture  state  of  rewards  and  punishments.  Savages  do  not  reason 
like  philosophers,  and  yet  in  the  most  enlightened  ages  these 
doctrines,  had  they  not  been  confirmed  by  sacred  evidence,  in 
stead  of  being  ranked  among  the  class  of  well  ascertained  truths, 
could  only  have  been  considered  as  probabilities.  It  is  true, 
that  so  far  from  being  opposed  to  reason  and  to  morals,  they 
find  approving  arguments  and  sympathies  in  the  human  soul ; 
and  hence  it  was,  the  renowned  of  antiquity  were  urged  by  the 
voice  of  nature  from  within,  to  reason,  and  to  argue,  and  to 
press  the  intellect  into  the  struggle,  but  the  result  was  scarcely 
more  successful  than  to  show  that  by  the  light  of  reason  the 
immortality  of  the  soul  was  a  reasonable  probability.  Even 


342  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

Plato,  confiding  in  this  inward  testimony,  was  "  sure  of  the  thing, 
but  not  of  the  argument,"— and  so  likewise  Cicero.  "  Any  one 
conversant  with  his  writings  must  know  that  he  could  get  no 
further  than  this,  that  it  was  desirable  rather  than  certain. 
Cicero  has  collected  together  the  opinions  of  hundreds  of  phi 
losophers  on  such  subjects,  and  what  he  has  said  may  be  looked 
upon  as  a  fair  sample  of  what  deism  can  do.  No  deist  can 
hope  to  go  further  on  this  point  than  Cicero."*  Are  we  not 
justified,  then,  in  considering  a  faith  in  these  doctrines  as  evi 
dence  of  the  origin  of  that  barbarous  people,  in  whose  religion 
they  are  incorporated  and  recognized,  from  a  more  enlightened 
and  civilized  ancestry  ? 

With  this  criterion,  whereby  to  test  the  source  of  the  reli 
gious  tenets  of  nations,  let  us  examine  those  religious  institu 
tions  of  the  great  American  family,  which  have  been  rashly 
classed  as  depraved  superstitions  without  a  ray  of  the  true  light 
which  lighteth  the  world,  and  we  will  discover  relics  of  a  more 
noble  creed,  which  at  the  same  time  carry  us  back  to  those 
primeval  periods  when  man  still  worshipped  his  Maker,  and 
exhibit  some  interesting  points  of  connection  by  which  the  abo 
rigines  are  affiliated  to  the  ancient  nations  of  the  old  world. 
We  may  pursue  this  chain  of  argument  with  the  more  certainty, 
because  that  sentiment  which  generally  renders  man  so  firmly 
attached  to  his  religious  belief,  thereby  securing  its  unalterabil- 
ity,  is  a  peculiar  trait  of  the  American  race  in  common  with  all 
the  primitive  nations  of  the  old  continent.  It  is  one  of  the  in 
dices  of  the  ancient  origin  of  any  people — for  ancient  theology 


*  Christianity  a  Divine  Revelation,  by  Robert  Broadley,  Curate 
of  Eccles,  Lancashire,  p.  15. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  343 

was  unchangeable.  Innovations  were  rejected  with  holy  horror 
— rites  and  ceremonies,  though  the  original  meaning  of  which 
they  were  but  symbolic  were  wholly  lost,  were  still  adhered 
to  because  of  their  very  antiquity. 

In  treating  of  the  religious  institutions  of  the  American  abo 
rigines,  the  same  view  will  be  found  to  embrace  the  barbarous 
as  well  as  the  civilized  nations,  another  evidence  of  their  com 
mon  origin.  "  The  more  I  search  into  the  ancient  history  of 
the  world,"  says  Schlegel,  "  the  more  am  I  convinced  that  the 
cultivated  nations  commenced  with  a  purer  worship  of  the  Su 
preme  Being;  that  the  magic  influence  of  nature  upon  the 
imaginations  of  the  human  race,  afterwards  produced  Polythe 
ism,  and  at  length  entirely  obscured  the  spiritual  conceptions 
of  religion  in  the  belief  of  the  people,  while  the  wise  men  alone 
preserved  the  primitive  secrets  in  the  sanctuary.  Hence  the 
mythology  appears  to  me  to  be  the  latest  developed,  and  the 
most  fluctuating  part  of  the  ancient  religion." 

The  evidences  of  a  belief  in,  if  not  worship  of  a  Supreme 
Being1,  among  most  of  the  American  tribes,  are  clear  and  numer- 

O7  O  ' 

ous.  The  Esquimaux,  it  has  been  thought,  are  an  exception  to 
this  assertion,  but  it  seems  that  they  have  notions  of  a  great  and 
good  Spirit  of  superior  power  ;*  and  that  they  do  not  believe 
in  the  dissolution  of  the  soul  at  death,  is  evident  from  their  su 
perstition  as  to  the  northern  lights,  which  they  call  "  the  spirits 
of  the  dead ;"  other  northern  tribes  term  the  same  phenomenon 
"  the  dance  of  the  dead." 

The  Patagonians  pray  to  their  chief  demon  or  ruling  spirit. 
Falkner  says,  that  at  the  head  of  their  good  deities,  is  "  the 

*  Parry,  Graah.  • 


344 


RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 


Lord  of  the  dead,"  and  Pennant,  that  this  great  and  good  be 
ing,  is  called  "  the  Creator  of  all  things."*  The  Fuegians  have 
ideas  of  a  Superior  Being.f 

Some  of  the  Californian  tribes  believe,  that  there  is  in  hea 
ven  a  Lord  of  great  power,  denominated  Niparaya,  "  who  made 
the  earth  and  the  sea,  gives  food  to  all  creatures,  and  created 
the  trees  and  every  thing  we  see,"  and  who  is  not  visible,  pos 
sessing  no  physical  form  like  man.  The  Cochimies,  the  most 
numerous  nation  of  California,  said  that  there  was  in  heaven  a 
being  whose  name  signified,  "  He  who  lives,  and  who  created 
all  things."J  The  Indians  of  the  Upper  Orinoco,  worship  a 
good  Spirit  who  regulates  the  seasons  and  the  harvest  ;§  the 
Guaranies  believed  in  God,  and  also  in  a  spirit  of  evil  they 
called  Ana. — "  We  already  know"  said  one  of  the  chiefs  of 
this  tribe,  "  that  there  is  some  one  who  dwells  in  heaven."|| 
The  Patagonians,  says  the  same  author,  described  the  Creator 
as  a  Being  "  worthy  of  all  veneration,  who  cannot  be  seen  and 
who  does  not  live  in  the  world ;"  they  believed  also  in  the  im 
mortality  of  the  soul. 

The  Araucanians,  in  their  religious  system,  acknowledged 
a  Supreme  Being,  called  "  Pillan,"  a  word  derived  from  Pulli 
or  Pilli,  the  soul,  and  which  signified  the  Supreme  Essence.  He 
was  also  termed,  "  the  Spirit  of  heaven — the  Great  Being — the 
Thunderer — the  Creator  of  all — the  Omnipotent — the  Eternal 


*  King  and  Fitzroy,  vol.  i.  pp.  76,  90;  and  Falkner  and  Pen 
nant,  cited  in  ibid.  vol.  ii.  pp.  161,  162. 
f  Ibid.  vol.  i.  pp.  227,  315,  ii.  167,  190. 
%  Venegas.  Hist.  Calif.,  vol.  i.  p.  88.    Ibid.  p.  92. 
§  Hum.  Pers.  Nar.,  vol.  iv.  p.  273.     Depon's  Voyage,  vol.  i.  p.  197. 
II  Dobrizhoffer,  vol.  i.  pp.  62,  63 ;  vol.  ii.  p.  90. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  345 

— the  Infinite."  He  was  invoked  in  prayers.*  They  also  be 
lieved  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul ;  that  it  is  carried  away 
after  death  towards  the  West  beyond  the  sea,  but  before  it  en 
ters  its  paradise,  that  it  is  obliged  to  pay  toll  to  a  malicious  and 
wicked  spirit.f 

The  Arikaras  believed  in  a  Supreme  Being,  "  the  Master 
of  life  ;"  the  Osages  in  a  great  and  good  Spirit,  and  in  future 
rewards  and  punishments.  J 

The  Brazilian  tribes  acknowledged  the  existence  of  a  great 
Creator,  to  whom  some  sang  hymns  of  praise,  and  they  admitted 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  but  with  the  qualification  that  the 
spirits  of  their  chiefs  and  sorcerers  entered  into  a  state  of  enjoy 
ment,  while  those  of  the  others  were  condemned  to  wander 
about  the  cemeteries.^ 

Of  the  nations  occupying  the  north-eastern  portions  of  the 
United  States,  a  similar  account  is  given.||  Loskiel  says,  "  The 
prevailing  opinion  of  all  these  nations  is,  that  there  is  one  God, 
or,  as  they  call  him,  one  great  and  good  Spirit,  who  has  cre 
ated  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and  made  man  and  every  other 
creature."  "  That  they  consider  the  soul  as  immortal,  and  even 
suppose  a  resurrection  of  the  body,  may  be  inferred  from  their 
usual  manner  of  expressing  themselves,  when  they  say, (  we 
Indians  cannot  die  eternally ;  even  Indian  corn,  buried  in  the 
ground,  is  vivified  and  rises  again.'  Many  believe  in  the  trans- 

*  Molina,  vol.  ii.  pp.  75,  77. 

t  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  pp.  79,  81.     Frezier's  Voyage,  p.  59. 
|  Brackenridge's  Journal,  p.  152.     Des.  Red  River,  p.  119.    Nut- 
tail's  Arkansas,  p.  95. 

§  Henderson's  Brazil,  pp.  210,  213. 

||  Loskiel,  pp.  33,  34,  36.     Charlevoix,  Voy.,  vol.  ii.  pp.  16,  109. 

44 


346  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

migration  of  souls,  and  imagine  that  they  were  with  God  be 
fore  their  birth,  and  came  from  him ;  or  that  they  have  been 
formerly  in  the  world,  and  are  now  living  over  again."     They 
seem  also  to  have  had  very  distinct  ideas  of  a  future  life,  in 
which  the  good  were  rewarded,  and  retribution  was  awarded  for 
moral  offences.     Charlevoix  bears  testimony  to  the  same  point, 
and  adds,  "  The  belief  the  best  established  amongst  our  Ameri 
cans,  is  that  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul.     Nevertheless  they 
do  not  believe  it  purely  spiritual,  no  more  than  their  Genii,  and 
to  speak  the  truth,  they  cannot  well  define  either  one  or  the 
other.     When  we  ask  what  they  think  of  their  souls,  they  an 
swer,  they  are  as  it  were  the  shadows  and  the  animated  im 
ages  of  the  body :  and  it  is  in  consequence  of  this  principle, 
that   they  believe  every  thing   is  animated  in   the  universe. 
Therefore  it  is  entirely  by  tradition  that  they  hold  that  our  souls 
do  not  die."     Heckewelder  informs  us,  that  their  children  are 
taught  athat  they  are  indebted  to  a  great,  good,  and  benevo 
lent  Spirit,  who  not  only  has  given  them  life,  but  has  ordained 
them  for  certain  great  purposes."*     "  Many  winters  ago,"  said 
Tecumseh,  "  there  was  no  land,  the  sun  did  not  rise  and  set :  all 
was  darkness.     The  great  Spirit  made  all  things."f     "  There 
is  still  another  great  Father  to  whom  I  am  much  indebted,"  said 
a  Pawnee  chief,  "  it  is  the  Father  of  us  all — he  who  made  us 
and  placed  us  on  this  earth."| 

The  Knisteneaux  acknowledge  the  existence  of  the  great 


*  Heckewelder's  Historical  Account,  p.  98. 
f  Hunter's  Memoirs,  p.  48. 

J  Buchanan's  Sketches,  p.  41.     See  an  able  article  on  religion  in 
this  work. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   RED   RACE.  347 

"  Master  of  life  ;"*  and  the  Chippewyans,  a  future  life,  where 
vice  is  punished  and  virtue  rewarded. 

A  similar  faith  was  observed  among  the  natives  of  the  West 
India  islands.  They  revered  the  great  Spirit  ;f  and  had  a  firm 
confidence  in  the  righteous  judgments  of  another  world,  as  may 
be  gathered  from  the  extraordinary  address  reported  to  have 
been  made  by  one  of  the  chiefs  of  Cuba  to  Columbus.  "  Whe 
ther  you  are  divinities  or  mortal  men,"  said  he,  "  we  know  not. 
But  if  you  are  men,  subject  to  mortality  like  ourselves,  you  can 
not  be  unapprised,  that  after  this  life  there  is  another,  wherein 
a  very  different  portion  is  allotted  to  good  and  bad  men.  If, 
therefore,  you  expect  to  die,  and  believe  with  us,  that  every 
one  is  to  be  rewarded  in  a  future  state  according  to  his  conduct 
in  the  present,  you  will  do  no  hurt  to  those  who  do  none  to 
you." 

Passing  now  to  the  civilized  nations,  we  find  similar  reli 
gious  notions.  The  Mexicans  worshipped  "  a  supreme,  abso 
lute,  and  independent  Being,  to  whom  they  owed  fear  and  ado 
ration."  "  They  believed  him  to  be  invisible,  and  named  him, 
only  by  the  common  appellation  of  God,  in  their  language 
Teotl."  They  called  him  also,  [palnemoani,  that  is,  He  by 
whom  we  live,  and  Tloque  Nahuaque,  He  who  has  all  in  him 
self.'7!  They  believed  also  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and 
a  future  state  of  rewards  and  retribution.  The  Peruvians,  as 
also  the  nations  whom  they  conquered  and  termed  barbarians, 
recognised  the  same  great  Being  under  the  title  of  Pachacamac. 


*  McKenzie,  vol.  i.  p.  124.    Ibid.  pp.  155,  157. 

t  Edwards'  Hist,  p.  80.  t  Clavig.,  vol.  i.  pp.  241,  242. 


348  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

Hence  Garcillasso  de  la  Vega  says,*  that  the  sun  was 
worshipped,  but  as  the  symbol  of  the  /Supreme  Being,  whom 
they  called  Pachacamac,  or  "  the  soul  of  the  world," — "  he 
who  made  the  world ;"  which  word  was  so  sacred,  that  it  was 
spoken  only  with  extreme  dread.  "  We  acknowledge,"  said 
the  Inca  Atahualpa,  addressing  Pizarro,  "  no  other  gods  than 
Pachacamac,  who  is  Supreme — the  Sun,  who  is  inferior  to  him, 
and  the  Moon,  who  is  his  sister  and  wife ;"  and  again,  "  The  first 
is  God,  whom  we  call  Pachacamac  and  Viracocha."f  The  Peru 
vians  not  only  believed  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  future 
retribution,  but,  according  to  Vega,  Ciec^a,  Gomara  and  other 
authors,  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body ;  and  according  to  the 
latter,  the  Spaniards,  when  they  opened  the  tombs  and  scat 
tered  the  bones,  were  besought  by  the  natives  to  refrain,  so  that 
the  dead  "  might  find  them  together  when  they  should  rise : 
from  which  it  is  manifest,"  he  adds,  "  that  they  believed  in  the 
resurrection  of  the  body  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul."  Many 
of  the  superstitious  rites  connected  with  interment,  as  prac 
tised  by  most  of  the  Indian  tribes,  the  articles  deposited  in  the 
grave,  the  reverence  for  the  dead,  the  great  and  unwearied 
care  evinced  in  the  preservation  of  their  bodies  or  bones,  all 
tend  to  excite  a  suspicion  that  the  same  idea  of  resurrection 
was  originally  more  prevalent. 

If  we  compare  these  ideas  with  those  of  some  of  the  an 
cient  nations  of  the  other  continent,  some  analogies  are  devel 
oped.  Upon  examining  the  religious  opinions  of  the  Hindoos, 
we  find  the  Supreme  Being  recognised.  Thus,  in  the  Puranas, 

*  Commentations,  vol.  i.  p.  50. 

t  Garcillasso,  vol.  ii.  Trois.  Ed.,  1688,  p.  455. 


HISTORY   OF  THE  RED  RACE.  349 

God  is  styled  "  the  great  God ;  the  great  omnipotent,  omnis 
cient  one;  the  greatest  in  the  world ;  the  great  Lord  who  goes 
through  all  worlds  incapable  of  decay."  In  the  Vedas,  he  is 
called  "  the  pure  Brahme,  whom  none  can  apprehend  as  an 
object  of  perception,  above,  around,  or  in  the  midst.  The  first 
born,  the  God  who  pervades  all  regions.  He,  prior  to  whom, 
nothing  was  born ;  who  became  all  beings — himself  the  Lord 
of  creatures ;  He,  who  made  the  fluid  sky  and  solid  earth ;  who 
fixed  the  solar  orb  and  celestial  abode ;  whom  heaven  and  earth 
mentally  contemplate ;  the  mysterious  Being,  in  whom  the  uni 
verse  perpetually  exists,  resting  on  that  sole  support ;  in  whom 
this  world  is  absorbed,  and  from  whom  it  issues."*  Mr.  Prit- 
chard,  in  his  learned  analysis  of  the  Egyptian  mythology,  de 
monstrates  that  they  had  an  idea  of  a  First  Cause,  and  regarded 


*  Asiatic  Res.,  vol.  viii.  p.  352.  Ibid.  p.  432.  "  We  cannot  re 
fuse,"  says  Mr.  Schlegel,  "  to  admit  that  the  ancient  sages  of  India 
possessed  some  idea  of  the  true  God.  All  their  scriptures  are  indeed 
full  of  phrases  and  expressions,  which  declare  this  doctrine,  in  as  dig 
nified,  as  clear  and  exalted  a  manner,  and  in  terms  as  profoundly 
scrutinized  and  as  definite,  as  human  language  can  adopt,  in  reference 
to  the  nature  of  an  infinite  being." — Schlegel,  tr.  in  Pritchard's  My 
thology,  p.  232. 

"  The  Supreme  Being  alone  existed ;  afterwards  there  was  uni 
versal  darkness ;  next  the  watery  ocean  was  produced  by  the  diffusion 
of  virtue:  then  did  the  Creator,  Lord  of  the  Universe,  rise  out  of  the 
ocean,  and  successively  frame  the  sun  and  moon." — Colebrook  on  the 

Vedas,  vol.  viii.    As.  Res.,  p.  397. 

"  Originally  the  Universe  was  indeed  soul  only ;  nothing  whatever 

existed,  either  active  or  inactive.     He  thought,  '  I  will  create  worlds.' 

Thus  he  created  these  various  worlds,  water,  light,  mortal  beings, 

and  the  waters." — As.  Res.,  vol.  viii.  p.  421. 


350  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

the  Deity  as  an  eternal,  intellectual  and  spiritual  Being.*  Eu- 
sebius  says,  that  the  Egyptians  "  acknowledged  one  intellec 
tual  Author  or  Creator  of  the  world,  under  the  name  of  Cneph," 
and  adds,  that  he  was  a  benevolent  Spirit.  Plutarch  styles 
him  "  an  uncreated  and  immortal  Being ;"  and  Jamblichus, 
as  "  a  self-intelligent  mind,  absorbed  in  his  own  contempla 
tions,"  and  as  "  the  ruler  of  the  celestial  gods."  That  both  of 
these  nations  entertained  the  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  and  that  it  existed  in  a  state  of  happiness  or  misery  here 
after  according  to  the  actions  of  this  life,  is  still  more  clear. 

In  China,  among  many  superstitions,  vestiges  of  an  ancient 
faith  in,  and  worship  of  the  Supreme  Being,  are  still  existent. 
They  considered  the  Creator  as  a  Supreme  and  creative  intelli 
gence,  under  the  names  of  "  Tien,"  "  heaven,"  and  "  Shang- 
ty,"  "the  Supreme  Ruler,"  who  pervades  the  universe,  and 
awards  moral  retribution.  Tien,  or  heaven,  "  stands  at  the 
head  of  their  moral,  as  well  as  physical  system,  and  most  of  the 
attributes  of  the  Deity  are  referred  to  it.  The  common  people 
colloquially  apply  to  it  a  term  of  respect,  equivalent  to  venera 
ble  Father,  or  Lord,  and  Choo-tsze  himself  says,  on  one  occa 
sion,  that  '  heaven  means  God.'  "f  The  Chinese  "  philoso 
phers,"  or  ".sect  of  the  learned,"  have  attacked  the  doctrine  of 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  but  this  belief  is  universally  preva 
lent  among  the  people,  and  is  the  basis  of  most  of  their  super 
stitious  practices. 


*  Euseb.  Prsep.  Evang.,  lib.  iii.  p.  174 ;  lib.  i.  c.  10.  Plut.  de 
Is  and  Osiris.  Jamblichus  de  Mysteriis.  sec.  viii.  cap.  3,  as  cited  in 
Pritchard,  p.  170,  et  seq. 

t  Hist,  of  China,  by  J.  F.  Davis,  vol.  ii.  pp.  68,  78. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  351 

The  Polynesians,  as  appears  from  their  traditions,  believe  in 
the  Supreme  Being,  of  whom  they  say,  "  that  he  is  the  soul  of 
the  universe ;  that  it  is  he  that  imparts  life  and  intelligence  to 
every  thing  that  lives,  and  has  understanding ;"  *  *  "  that  he 
alone  is  all  and  in  all ;  both  creation  and  the  Creator ;"  *  * 
"  that  being  alone  in  existence,  he  transformed  himself  into  the 
Universe ;"  "  that  he  is  an  uncreated  Being,  self-existent,  the 
Supreme  Intelligence."* 

Such  are  the  traces  of  the  original  pure  worship  W7hich,  un 
alloyed  with  the  inventions  of  man,  at  a  remote  era  prevailed 
among  the  ancestors  of  the  American  aborigines  in  common 
with  ancient  nations  of  the  old  world.  How  far  this  analogy 
affords  ground  for  tracing  their  origin,  has  already  been  ad 
verted  to ;  but  upon  further  inquiry,  we  find  developed  a  most 
singular  instance  of  the  preservation  of  a  vital  tenet  of  primi 
tive  religion,  also  common  to  both  hemispheres,  and  that  is,  a 
recognition  of  the  principle  that  the  Supreme  Being  is  not  to 
be  adored  in  representations  by  images,  a  tenet  the  more  re 
markable  amid  a  system  of  idolatry  otherwise  universal.  No  / 
savage  tribe  of  America  has  been  found  that  worshipped  or  * 
represented  the  great  Spirit  by  a  carved  image.  To  the  Mas 
ter  of  life  they  sometimes  address  their  prayersf  and  hymns  of 
praise,  but  as  to  a  Spirit  not  to  be  figured  in  material  work 
manship.  Their  various  inferior  deities  are  venerated  under 
numerous  forms  and  shapes,  but  with  these  their  idolatry  ends. 
The  same  may  be  observed  of  the  civilized  nations,  whose  sys 
tem  of  image  worship,  with  this  single  exception,  was  no  less 

*  Silliman's  Am.  Journal,  vol.  xxx.  pp.  285,  287,  288. 
t  Mackenzie's  Voy.,  vol.  i.  p.  124.     Heckewelder's  Hist ,  ace.  p. 
204. 


352  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

extensive.  The  Supreme  Being,  as  worshipped  by  the  Mexi 
cans,  was  left  unrepresented  by  any  image,  "  because  they  be 
lieved  him  to  be  invisible."  There  was  but  one  temple  in  all 
Peru  dedicated  to  Pachacamac,  and  that  was  not  erected  by  the 
Peruvians  proper,  and  when  asked  the  cause,  that  people  re 
plied,  that  "they  had  never  seen  him,  wherefore  they  built  no 
temples  for  his  worship,  nor  offered  him  sacrifices,  and  that  they 
regarded  him  as  the  unknown  God."* 

Many  of  the  Indian  tribes  of  North  America  paid  adoration 
to  the  heavenly  bodies.f  The  Hurons  said  their  chiefs  were  de 
scended  from  the  Sun,  and  that  the  sacred  pipe  was  derived  from 
the  same  luminary,  being  first  presented  to  the  western  Paw 
nees,  and  by  them  transmitted  to  the  other  tribes.J  The  Man- 
dans  and  Minitarees  have  a  similar  tradition. §  Both  the  Algic 
nations  and  the  Iroquois||  venerated  the  Sun,  and  it  is  probable, 
their  council  fire  was  a  remaining  symbol  of  their  ancient  reli 
gion.  The  Natchez  and  other  southern  tribes,  were  fire-wor 
shippers,  and  erected  temples  and  performed  sacrifices  to  the 
Sun.lT  The  natives  of  the  West  India  islands  worshipped  the 


*  Vega,  vol.  i.  p.  61.     Clavigero,  vol.  i.  p.  242. 

t  Charlevoix,  pp.  145,  195.  J  Ibid.,  p.  133. 

§  Nuttall's  Arkansas,  p.  276. 

||  Colden's  Hist.  Five  Nations,  vol.  i.  pp.  115,  175.  Schoolcraft's 
Narrative,  p.  20. 

T[  "  The  greatest  part  of  the  nations  of  Louisiana  had  formerly  their 
temples,  as  well  as  the  Natchez,  and  in  all  these  temples  a  perpetual 
fire  is  kept  up.  It  should  even  seem,  that  the  Maubilians  enjoyed  a 
sort  of  primacy  in  religion  over  all  the  other  nations  in  this  part  of 
Florida;  for  when  any  of  their  fires  happened  to  be  extinguished 
through  chance  or  negligence,  it  was  necessary  to  kindle  them  again 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  353 

same  celestial  body,  together  with  the  Moon.*  The  Del  aw  ares 
and  Iroquois,  according  to  Loskiel,  also  offered  sacrifices  to  the 
Sun  and  Moon,  and  had  a  festival  in  honor  of  the  element  of 
fire,  which  they  considered  the  first  parent  of  the  Indian  na- 
tions.f  Incense  or  smoke,  probably  from  a  beautiful  analogy 
in  its  ascending  course  to  the  heavens,  was  an  ancient  symbol 
of  prayer,  and  we  find  it  used  as  a  method  of  adoration  by  the 
Indians.  The  Osages  smoke  to  the  Sun.J  The  Sioux,  Arau- 
canians,§  Creeks  and  Hurons,  to  the  Sun  and  to  the  cardinal 
points,||  as  did  also  the  Natchez  and  other  southern  tribes.  The 
Indians  of  California  asked  the  Jesuit  fathers  who  first  visited 
them,  whether  they  were  "  Sons  of  the  Sun,"  looking  upon 
them  as  deities.U  The  Botocudos  of  Brazil,  "  held  the  moon  in 
high  veneration,  and  attributed  to  her  influence  the  chief  phe 
nomena  in  nature."**  The  Caciques  of  the  Guaranies,  were 
called"  Suns  ;"ff  and  the  Puelches  worshipped  the  Sun.JJ  Thus 
it  appears  that  the  adoration  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  fire 


at  theirs.    But  the  temple  of  the  Natchez  is  the  only  one  subsisting  at 
present,  and  is  held  in  great  veneration  by  all  the  savages  inhabiting 
this  vast  continent." — Charlevoix,  Voyage,  vol.  ii.  p.  273. 
*  Edwards.  Hist.  W.  Ind.,  vol.  i.  p.  80. 
t  Loskiel,  pp.  41,  43. 
I  Nuttall's  Arkansas,  p.  95. 
§  Molina,  vol.  ii.  p.  71. 

||  Bartram's  Travels,  p.  450.     Description  of  the  Ohio,  p.  177. 
Nuttall,  p.  175.     Brackenridge's  Journal,  p.  138. 
Tl"  Venegas.  Hist.  California,  vol.  i.  p.  164. 
**  Mod.  Trav.  Brazil,  vol.  ii.  p.  183. 
tf  Dobrizhoffer,  vol.  i.  p.  60. 
H  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  89. 

45 


354  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

worship,  which  anciently  existed  among  the  Etrurians,  Greeks, 
Egyptians,  Hindoos,  Scythians,  Chinese,  Mongols,  Mexicans, 
Muyscas  and  Peruvians,  was  common  likewise  to  most  of  the 
barbarous  American  tribes. 

The  Polytheism  of  the  barbarous  tribes  was  most  univer 
sal  in  its  character.  It  has  been  seen  that,  in  common  with 
other  ancient  nations,  they  believed  in  the  existence  of  a  Su 
preme  and  benevolent  Being,  presiding  over  the  Universe,  but 
that  this  belief  was  nearly,  if  not  wholly,  more  an  abstract  faith 
than  a  practical  one.  It  was  connected,  however,  with  another 
idea — the  doctrine  of  emanations.  The  high  and  sublime  con 
ception  of  the  omnipresence  of  the  Creator,  was  degraded  into 
the  superstition,  that  a  portion  of  his  Spirit  animated  each  one 
of  his  works ;  and  from  this  opinion,  the  progression  was  rapid 
to  the  belief  in  numerous  independent  spirits,  good  and  evil,  ac 
cordingly  as  the  object,  supposed  to  be  animated,  exercised  a 
good  or  malign  influence.  The  worship  of  the  celestial  bodies 
and  of  fire,  a  belief  in  the  transmigration  of  souls,  animal  wor 
ship,  the  practice  of  magical  arts  and  sorcery,  were  the  succes 
sive  steps  of  debasement  from  a  noble  primitive  creed,  and  con 
stituted  the  real  practical  religion  of  the  aborigines. 

In  the  development  of  this  singular  Polytheistic  system,  the 
whole  visible  and  invisible  creation  is  animated — vitality  is 
given  to  all  the  material  wrorlcl,  and  the  earth  and  the  heavens 
are  filled  with  an  active  and  life-like  intelligence,  from  the 
lowest  animal  in  the  scale  of  being  to  the  orbs  of  the  celestial 
sphere.  Those  objects  with  which  man  is  in  continual  inter 
course  and  contact,  being  thus  animated  with  souls,  methods 
of  conciliating  them,  not  only  by  sacrifices  and  fasts,  but  by  an 
extended  system  of  necromancy,  are  suggested  by  the  crafty 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  355 

and  cunning,  pretending  to  supernatural  powers.  Different 
beings  are  supposed  to  occupy  various  shapes  in  another  state 
of  existence ;  unseen  spirits  are  continually  floating  in  the  sur 
rounding  atmosphere ; — the  decay  of  matter,  and  the  phenom 
ena  of  life  and  death,  whereby  changes  are  perpetually  induced 
in  creation,  are  merely  manifestations  of  the  transfer  of  a  spirit 
from  one  state  of  existence  into  another,  while  the  Sun,  Moon, 
and  Stars,  constant  and  steady  in  their  course,  are  viewed  with 
a  higher  reverence,  as  superior  to  and  exempt  from  the  general 
law  of  decay  ; — such  was  the  groundwork  of  the  American  Po 
lytheism  ;  and  its  developments  were  in  correspondence.  The 
worship  of  the  Creator,  though  still  existent,  as  we  have  shown, 
appeared  almost  like  a  forgotten  and  time-worn  relic  in  the 
aboriginal  religious  rites.  Sabaism  was  the  first  stage  of 
degradation,  and  accordingly  we  find  its  vestiges  somewhat 
more  prominent,  though  it  was  supplanted,  in  a  great  degree, 
by  the  grossest  system  of  Polytheistic  idolatry. 

Garcillasso  de  la  Vega  labors  with  great  zeal  to  prove,  that 
the  Incas  permitted  no  other  worship  than  that  of  Pachacamac, 
and  the  heavenly  bodies.  If  this  were  so,  those  sovereigns 
made  the  most  important  innovations  in  the  religious  customs 
of  their  subjects,  for  before  the  foundation  of  that  empire  there 
prevailed  a  most  extensive  system  of  idolatry.  All  nature,  an 
imate  and  inanimate,  seems  to  have  been  adored,  and  not  only 
were  the  elements  considered  as  divine,  but  also  every  material 
object,  however  vile  or  monstrous.  Besides  these,  each  indi 
vidual  had  a  particular  deity  to  whom  his  prayers  were  ad 
dressed,  and  who  was  believed  to  have  an  especial  care  and 
guardianship  over  his  devotee.  They  had  also  implicit  faith  in 
dreams,  and  drew  from  them  prognostications  of  future  events. 


356  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

Some  tribes  had  sorcerers  who  pretended  to  possess  the  means 
of  communication  with  evil  spirits,  and  through  their  agency, 
to  exercise  the  prophetic  art*  In  addition  to  the  ordinary  of 
ferings  of  fruits  and  animals,  they  sacrificed  human  beings  of 
all  ages ;  and  the  entrails  were  examined  to  discover  if  the 
sacrifice  were  acceptable.  Animals  were  believed  to  have  souls, 
and  to  be  distinguished  from  man  only  by  the  absence  of  reason. 
In  one  case  we  have  clear  evidence  of  a  belief,  that  the  souls  of 
the  dead,  after  a  time,  return  and  enter  the  bodies  of  infants  at 
their  birth.  In  all  these  ideas,  are  to  be  perceived  the  charac 
teristic  features  of  that  religious  faith  which  lay  at  the  very 
root  of  the  ancient  mythology  of  Egypt  and  Hindoostan — the 
idea  of  a  universal  soul,  from  which  all  life  proceeds  and  into 
which  all  life  is  resolved.  And  upon  examining  the  supersti 
tions  of  the  other  aboriginal  nations,  they  appear  to  be  all  con 
formed  to  the  same  original  type.  Without  entering  into  a 
detail  of  the  complex  system  of  Mexican  idolatry,  it  is  sufficient 
to  state  that  they  believed  in  an  evil  spirit,  the  enemy  of 
mankind,  thirteen  principal  gods,  and  numerous  inferior  deities, 
the  images  of  which  were  placed  in  their  houses  like  Penates. 
They  considered  animals  as  having  immortal  souls,  and  it  was 
customary  at  funerals  to  kill  a  techichi,  a  domestic  quadruped 
resembling  a  dog,  to  accompany  the  deceased  in  his  journey  to 

*  In  the  valley  of  Rimac,  in  Peru,  was  the  Huaca  of  Rimac,  or 
"  the  god  thai,  speaks,"  which  name  appears  to  have  been  given  to  the 
deity  worshipped  there,  by  the  ancient  Indians,  "  because  he  spoke  to 
them  and  answered  their  questions:"  in  fact,  here  was  the  Oracle 
of  the  Indian  nations. — Ituschenberger,  p.  202.  In  the  Quichua  this 
word  signifies,  "to  speak,"  "to  disclose  a  secret." — Vocabulario 
Qquichua,  p.  326. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  357 

Paradise ;  they  believed  also  in  the  doctrine  of  transmigration. 
Human  sacrifices  were  customary ;  and  on  particular  occasions, 
in  preparation  for  the  sacred  festivals,  they  engaged  in  peni 
tential  practices,  such  as  fasting  and  watching,  mangling  and 
cutting  their  flesh,  piercing  the  tongue  and  other  parts  with  the 
spines  of  the  aloe,  and  similar  acts  of  austerity.  Among  their 
priests  was  a  class  called  diviners,  probably  like  the  Indian  sor 
cerers  or  physicians ;  and  the  practice  of  the  medicinal  art  was 
accompanied  with  many  superstitious  ceremonies. 

The  only  priests  known  among  the  barbarous  tribes  were 
Sorcerers  or  jugglers,  who  claimed  supernatural  powers  by 
means  of  a  pretended  intercourse  with  some  evil  spirit.  The 
Indians  attributed  all  diseases  to  the  agency  of  evil  demons,  and 
thus  the  Sorcerers  came  to  exercise  the  healing  art.  For  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  an  interview  with  these  spirits  they  pre 
pared  themselves  by  fastings,  watchings,  and  ablutions.  They 
then  resorted  to  incantations,  violent  exercise,  dancing  and 
contortions.  The  more  convulsive  these  physical  contests,  the 
greater  was  the  power  of  the  invisible  being  whom  they  sought 
to  render  obedient  to  their  commands;  and  finally,  the  triumph 
of  their  supernatural  skill  was  exhibited  in  feats  of  leger 
demain,  such  as  stabbing  themselves  with  knives  without  draw 
ing  blood,  and  swallowing  arrows  and  clubs.  They  then  pro 
ceeded  to  prophesy,  and  to  cure  the  sick.  These  singular  rites 
were  common  to  nearly  all  the  tribes  from  the  Arctic  ocean  to 
Cape  Horn.* 

*  The  Egyptians  believed  that  diseases  were  occasioned  by 
wicked  demons,  and  their  cures  were  founded  mostly  on  magical  arts, 
by  which  the  demons  were  coerced  or  conciliated.  Prilchard's  Anal- 
ysis  of  the  Egyptian  Mythology,  p.  94.  Also,  Lane's  Modern  Egyp 
tians,  vol.  i.  p.  310. 


358  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE   ORIGIN  AND 

The  Patagonians  and  Fuegians  believe  in  the  existence  of 
a  multiplicity  of  spirits,  good  and  evil,  and  each  family  has 
its  own  household  god  or  idol ;  they  consider  sickness  to  pro 
ceed  from  the  influence  of  some  evil  spirit,  and  for  the  purpose 
of  exercising  control  over  these  invisible  beings,  there  are  wiz 
ards  or  necromancers.*  The  Guaranies  also  have  magicians 
who  cure  diseases,  and  foretell  the  events  of  the  future.  At 
the  interment  of  the  dead,  they  kill  the  horses  and  dogs  of  the 
deceased  at  his  grave.f  These  jugglers,  who  possess  supernat 
ural  powers,  are  called  Keebet ;  they  fast  before  commencing 
their  magical  ceremonies.  The  reverence  for  the  dead  among 
these  southern  tribes,  equals  that  entertained  by  the  natives  of 
any  other  part  of  the  continent.  All  the  Brazilian  tribes  be 
lieve  in  numerous  evil  spirits,  and  consequently  have  their  con 
jurors,  who  are  diviners,  priests,  and  physicians.J  The  sick  are 
often  cured  by  them,  by  smoking  or  sucking  the  part  affected, 
in  which  manner  the  wicked  spirit  causing  the  malady  is  ex 
pelled.  An  idea  of  these  superstitions  may  be  gathered  from  a 
description  of  those  of  one  tribe,  the  Coroados.  "  They  ascribe 
a  direct  intercourse  with  the  demons  to  their  Paje,  who  is  ac 
quainted  with  many  powerful  herbs,  appears  to  be  at  the  same 
time  their  priest  and  physician,  and  contrives  to  maintain  his 
credit  among  them  by  all  kinds  of  conjuring  tricks.  In  extra 
ordinary  cases  he  is  applied  to  for  his  advice,  which  he  gives 
after  consulting  the  demons ;  for  which  purpose  he  generally 
chooses  a  dark  tempestuous  night.  *  *  The  Indian  also 
wears  round  his  neck  strings  of  the  eye-teeth  of  ounces  and  of 

*  King  and  Fitzroy,  vol.  i.  pp.  90,  227 ;  vol.  ii.  pp.  155,  162. 
t  Dobrizhoffer,  vol.  i.  pp.  62,  139;  vol.  ii.  pp.  67,  90,  271. 
|  Henderson's  Brazil,  p.  213. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  359 

monkeys,  of  certain  roots,  fruits,  shells,  and  stones,  which  he 
thinks  will  protect  him  against  the  attacks  of  wild  beasts  and 
against  diseases.  The  Paje  administers  many  medicines,  which 
are  often  prepared  with  magical  ceremonies,  practises  a  kind 
of  exorcism  by  fumigation,  and  maintains  the  fear  of  the  Indians 
for  spirits  by  superstitious  customs  and  narratives ;  but  the  mis 
fortunes,  sickness,  and  death  of  the  neighbors  are  often  ascribed 
to  his  sorceries,  and  he  then  atones  for  his  practices  with  his 
life."* 

The  Araucanians  believe  in  a  multitude  of  inferior  spirits, 
who  are  invoked  by  their  diviners  or  jugglers.f  The  Indians 
in  the  northern  part  of  South  America  also  admit  the  existence 
of  evil  spirits.  They  have  religious  societies  composed  of  con 
jurors  called  Piaches,  who  are  priests  and  physicians.  The 
candidates  are  subjected  to  long  fasts,  flagellations,  and  other 
preliminary  ceremonies :  they  are  then  permitted  to  blow  the 
sacred  trumpet,  to  invoke  the  evil  spirits  in  dances,  to  cure  the 
sick,  and  to  prophesy.  These  rites  are  said  to  be  very  ancient, 
and  to  have  been  handed  down  from  their  forefathers.!  As  the 
Esquimaux  so  bury  the  body,  that  it  shall  not  be  pressed  by  the 
earth,  these  tribes  hold  that  the  earth  must  not  touch  the  corpse. 

The  Charibs  of  the  West  India  islands  had  also  their  magi 
cians,  called  Boyez,  who  exercised  an  influence  over  the  Mabo- 
yas  or  evil  divinities.  The  candidate  for  admission  into  this 
caste  was  compelled  to  undergo  severe  penance  by  rigorous 


*  Spix  and  Martius,  vol.  ii.  p.  244. 
t  Molina,  vol.  ii.  pp.  78,  91. 

|  Hum.  Pers.  Nar.,  vol.  iv.  pp.  273,  354.    Depon's  Voyage,  vol.  i. 
p.  193. 


360 


RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 


fasts,  scourges,  suffocating  fumigations,  and  horrid  lacerations 
of  the  body.  By  these  means  a  familiar  spirit  was  placed  at  his 
command,  and  he  took  his  rank  as  a  prophet  and  physician.  * 
Similar  customs  prevailed  among  the  Arrowauks. 

Passing  to  North  America  we  find  the  same  rites  universal.! 
The  Californian  tribes  had  their  sorcerers,  who,  with  other  curi 
ous  customs,  were  in  the  habit  of  consulting  little  tablets  of 
wood,  made  with  great  labor,  on  which  were  painted  grotesque 
figures,  the  meaning  of  which  was  taught  those  who  were  initiat 
ed  into  the  priesthood,  but  concealed  from  others;  these  seem  to 
be  similar  to  the  religious  songs  of  the  Algonquins.  The  Ari- 
caras  have  the  usual  Indian  belief  in  the  powers  of  magic,  and 
in  their  preparation  for  those  ceremonies  practise  personal 
severities,  not  surpassed  even  by  the  most  horrid  acts  of  self- 
torture  customary  in  Hindoostan.  Some  cut  and  scarify  their 
bodies ;  others  suspend  themselves  by  the  arms  or  legs  or  the 
sides,  by  hooks  in  the  flesh.  "  I  was  shown  a  boy,"  says  Mr. 
Brackenridge,  "  who  had  drawn  two  buffalo  heads  several  hun 
dred  yards,  by  cords  fixed  in  the  fleshy  parts  of  his  sides.  I 
might  enumerate  a  variety  of  other  particulars,  in  which  this 
strange  self-punishment  is  carried  to  the  greatest  lengths."! 
The  Esquimaux  believe  in  the  existence  of  a  multitude  of  infe 
rior  and  evil  spirits,  who  are  exorcised  or  conciliated  by  their 
Angekkoks  or  sorcerers.^  With  the  Copper  and  Dog-ribbed  In 
dians  no  medicine,  save  charms,  is  used  for  any  disease.  Their 


*  Hist.  Spanish  Disc.,  vol.  ii.  p.  154,  seq. 

f  Venegas,  vol.  i.  pp.  69,  74,  100. 

+  Brackenridge's  Journal,  p.  160. 

§  Parry's  Voyage,  pp.  145,  331,  325,  451. 


HISTORY   OF  THE  RED  RACE.  361 

jugglers  pretend  to  swallow  knives  and  hatchets,  and  their  skill 
in  these  feats  of  legerdemain  is  so  great,  that  intelligent  observ 
ers  have  been-  unable  to  detect  the  deception.*  In  Virginia  the 
conjurors,  as  described  by  Captain  Smith,  practised  the  same 
rites,  and  the  young  men,  who  desired  to  be  admitted  into  the 
religious  caste,  were  subjected  to  flagellations  and  tortures, 
which  often  terminated  in  death.f 

The  Algonquin-Lenape  tribes  all  had  their  sorcerers.  "  The 
most  dangerous  deceivers  among  the  Indians,"  says  Loskiel, 
"  are  the  so-called  sorcerers/'J  Indeed  it  seems  to  be  necessary 
for  every  savage  to  have  his  manitto,  or  tutelar  spirit  or  deity. 
To  these  manittos  they  have  recourse  "  when  they  are  in  any 
danger,  when  they  go  on  any  enterprise,  and  when  they  would 
obtain  some  extraordinary  favor.  They  think  they  may  ask 
any  thing  of  them,  however  unreasonable  it  may  be,  or  however 
contrary  even  to  good  behavior  and  honesty.  But  children, 
they  suppose,  are  not  born  under  their  protection.  They  must 
first  know  how  to  handle  a  bow  and  arrows  to  merit  this  favor. 
There  must  also  be  some  preparations  to  receive  it.  This  is  the 
most  important  affair  of  life/ '§  The  child,  after  fastings  and  other 
ceremonies,  was  supposed  to  perceive  in  his  dreams  the  form 
or  shape  under  which  his  mariitto  manifested  himself,  the  im 
age  of  which  from  that  time  he  carried  with  him,  and  to  which 
he  in  future  directed  his  prayers.  To  become  conjurors  or  med 
icine-men  other  ceremonies  are  necessary,  the  principal  of 
which,  however,  are  long  fasts.  The  incantations  and  other 
rites  practised  by  these  impostors,  present  little  diversity  from 


*  Hearrie,  p.  293.        f  Voyages  and  Discoveries,  vol.  i.  p.  140. 
I  Loskiel,  p.  46,  etc.  §  Charlevoix,  Voyage. 

46 


362  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

those  already  described.  The  most  remarkable  of  these  are  the 
songs  and  dances  for  the  Metai  and  for  medicine-hunting,  which 
are  permitted  only  to  the  initiated.  These  are  tanght  by  figures 
carved  on  wood,  and  by  their  means  the  spirits  are  controlled, 
and  the  sorcerers  obtain  power  over  the  animals  of  the  chase, 
the  lives  and  health  of  men,  and  disclose  the  secrets  of  futurity. 
Sacrifices  appear  to  have  been  formerly  of  very  general  preva 
lence  among  these  tribes,  and,  according  to  Loskiel,  they  were 
of  "  very  ancient  date,  and  considered  in  so  sacred  a  light  that 
unless  they  were  performed  in  proper  time  and  in  a  manner 
acceptable  to  the  deity,  they  suppose  illness,  misfortunes,  and 
death  itself  would  certainly  befall  themselves  and  their  fami 
lies."  All  these  songs,  dances,  and  feasts  seem  to  be  con 
nected  with  religion,  and  to  have  been  preserved  traditionally.* 
It  thus  appears  that  a  most  astonishing  conformity  prevails 
in  the  religious  ideas  and  customs  of  most  of  the  aboriginal 
tribes  in  both  continents, — a  resemblance  so  striking,  indeed, 
as  alone  to  justify  a  belief  in  their  common  origin.  These  rites, 
it  is  to  be  observed,  are  nowhere  of  recent  invention,  but  are 
invariably  considered  as  derived  from  some  ancient  source.  In 
the  songs,  allusions  are  often  made  to  mythological  ideas  wThich 
are  characteristic  of  the  cults  of  Eastern  Asia,  and  the  magical 
practices  are  clearly  of  an  Oriental  character,  though  in  remote 
ages  they  appear  to  have  been  common  to  many  ancient  na- 

*  James,  in  Tanner's  Narrative,  pp.  286,  341.  Loskiel,  p.  40. 
Van  Der  Donck's  New  Netherlands.  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  vol.  i.  p. 
203.  Charlevoix,  ibid.  McKenzie's  Journal,  p.  101.  Schoolcraft's 
Nar.,  p.  68.  Pike's  Expedition,  part  ii.  app.  p.  10. 

According  to  Loskiel,  the  Delawares  believed  in  the  Metemp 
sychosis. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  363 

tions.  Amid  all  these  dark  and  hideous  institutions,  we  can 
perceive  feeble  glimmerings  of  a  loftier  and  purer  religion, 
which  recognized  the  Supeme  Being.  And  even  to  this  day, 
nothing  is  more  usual  for  the  Indians  than  to  address  their 
prayers  to  the  great  Spirit.  Sabaism  appears  to  have  been 
the  first  step  of  degradation,  and  though  at  the  discovery 
retained  principally  by  the  civilized  nations,  to  have  been, 
at  some  remote  epoch,  common  to  the  barbarous  tribes. 
Its  purest  form  seems  to  have  been  still  preserved  by  the 
Peruvians,  who  worshipped  the  Sun  as  the  symbol  and  em 
blem  of  Divine  Power.  Sabaism  was  based  upon  the  principle 
of  divine  emanations,  and  the  barbarous  tribes  extended  this 
idea  to  its  utmost  development, — it  was  the  foundation  of  their 
Polytheism  and  system  of  magic. 

We  are  surprised  to  find  among  the  aborigines  many  other 
religious  customs  and  ideas,  which,  though  enveloped  in  myste 
ries,  and  clouded  by  fables  and  superstitions,  are  manifestly  relics 
of  the  primitive  faith.  It  would  appear  as  if  the  various  branches 
of  the  human  race  carried  with  them,  after  the  dispersion,  rays  of 
that  original  moral  light  which  once  enlightened  all  mankind. 
It  is  no  despicable  proof  of  the  antiquity  and  sanctity  of  those 
great  truths,  to  find  among  our  aborigines  a  belief  in  the  existence 
of  a  Supreme  Being,  a  firm  faith  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
in  a  state  of  future  retribution,  in  the  doctrine  of  atonement  as 
emblemized  in  sacrifices  and  expiatory  self-punishments,  in  a  de 
luge,  and  in  the  final  destruction  of  the  world  with  all  its  inhab 
itants.  The  early  missionaries  failed  not  to  perceive  these 
analogies  to  many  of  the  principles  of  our  own  religion,  and 
sought  to  explain  them  upon  the  supposition  that  the  Gospel 
had  once  been  preached  in  America  by  some  of  the  primitive 


364 


RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 


fathers ;  but  in  view  of  the  proofs  of  the  antiquity  of  the  race 
upon  this  continent,  it  seems  just  to  suppose  that  the  aborigines, 
in  common  with  some  of  the  ancient  nations  in  the  old  world, 
had  preserved  feeble  vestiges  of  those  great  truths  which  were 
known  to  man  in  primeval  ages,  and  which  have  been  purely 
preserved  only  in  the  sacred  writings.*  The  testimony  of  Char- 
levoix,  on  this  point,  is  interesting.  "Furthermore,"  he  re 
marks,  "the  ideas,  though  quite  confused,  which  they  have 
retained  of  a  first  Being ;  the  traces,  though  almost  effaced,  of 
a  religious  worship  which  they  appear  to  have  rendered  form 
erly  to  this  Supreme  Deity,  and  the  faint  marks  which  we  ob 
serve,  even  in  the  most  indifferent  actions,  of  the  ancient  belief 
and  the  primitive  religion,  may  bring  them  more  easily  than 
we  think,  into  the  way  of  truth,  and  make  their  conversion  to 
Christianity  to  be  more  easily  effected  than  that  of  more  civ 
ilized  nations." 


*  The  Indians  generally  placed  the  abode  of  the  spirits  of  the 
dead  in  the  west.  This  circumstance  has  been  supposed  to  indicate 
the  direction  of  the  country  whence  they  originally  proceeded ;  but  it 
seems  to  be  an  ancient  myth  common  to  many  other  nations.  The 
Hindoos  placed  the  abode  of  their  gods  and  their  paradise  in  the 
west, ;  so  likewise  the  Chinese,  Thibetians,  Greeks,  Persians,  Ger 
manic  nations,  and  the  Celts. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  365- 


CHAPTER    X. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  ABORIGINES. 

WITH  the  general  data  now  possessed,  the  path  is  open  to 
wards  a  brief  examination  of  such  analogies1  as  exist  between 
the  aboriginal  monuments,  customs,  and  institutions,  and  those 
of  several  nations  of  the  other  hemisphere. 

The  Celts.  In  many  parts  of  England  and  Ireland  there 
are  mounds  and  mural  remains,  which  exhibit  a  striking  resem 
blance  to  the  ancient  monuments  in  the  United  States  and  South 
America.  These  consist  of  square  and  circular  earthen  enclo 
sures,  some  of  which  are  thought  to  be  of  a  sacred  character 
like  that  at  Circleville  in  Ohio ;  of  sepulchral  mounds  or  tumuli ; 
of  fortifications,  surrounded  by  ditches  and  embankments ;  and 
of  terraced  hills  cut  into  an  artificial  form,  similar  to  those  in 
Peru.  From  these  circumstances,  and  from  a  correspondence 
in  some  of  the  Celtic  rites  and  customs  with  those  of  the  abori 
gines,  conjectures  have  been  advanced,  that  the  authors  of  the 
ancient  remains  at  the  West,  may  have  been  connected  in  some 
way  with  the  former  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain.  But  as  ap 
pears  by  the  profound  researches  of  Dr.  Pritchard,  the  Celtic 
and  Sanscrit  are  kindred  languages,  and  the  result  of  the  inves 
tigations  of  English  antiquarians  seems  to  be  conclusive  as  to 


366  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE   ORIGIN  AND 

the  eastern  origin  of  the  Celtic  nations.*  It  is  through  Orien 
tal  Asia,  therefore,  that  the  Celtic  and  American  monuments 
are  affiliated.  It  is  not  surprising  that  those  streams  of  popu 
lation,  which  flowed  from  the  same  primitive  fountain  should 
present  many  traits  of  similitude.  Though  these  two  races  ap 
pear  to  be  dissimilar  physically,  their  common  Oriental  origin 
may  serve  to  explain  such  analogies  as  have  been  traced  be 
tween  their  arts  and  customs. 

Madagascar.  A  race  physically  approximated  to  the  type 
of  the  Red  race,  has  been  observed  in  this  island.  Accord 
ingly,  we  find  a  great  correspondence  in  their  customs  and  in 
stitutions  with  those  of  the  Polynesians  and  Americans.  This 
people  are  divided  into  tribes;  they  trace  their  genealogies 
through  the  female  line;  they  revere  the  dead;  like  many  of 
the  American  nations,  they  scrape  the  flesh  from  the  bones  of 
the  corpse ;  with  the  deceased  are  buried  his  weapons,  and  his 
wealth ;  and  over  the  ancient  graves  tumuli  were  erected,  some 
of  which  present  the  form  of  graduated  or  terraced  pyramids. 
They  manufacture  cloths  like  those  of  the  Polynesian  islanders, 
and  they  formerly  fortified  their  towns  by  surrounding  them 
with  immense  embankments  and  ditches,  excavated  from  the 

*  Higgins'  Celtic  Druids.  Pritchard's  Eastern  Origin  of  the 
Celtic  Nations.  O'Brien  Fosbrooke.  Davies'  Celtic  Researches. 
Da  vies,  on  the  authority  of  the  following  passage  from  an  ancient  song 
in  the  Welsh  Archeology,  conjectures  that  knotted  cords  were  ancient 
ly  used  :  "  It  is  time  to  go  to  the  banquet  with  the  artists  employed 
about  their  mystery,  with  a  hundred  knots,  after  the  manner  of  our 
countrymen."  The  Druids  believed  in  the  transmigration  of  souls, 
and  were  skilled  in  the  practice  of  magic. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED   RACE.  367 

earth  with  incredible  labor.  And  in  fine,  they  attribute  dis 
eases  to  the  agency  of  evil  spirits,  and  have  a  particular  class, 
who  practise  the  arts  of  medical  magic  and  divination,  exactly 
similar  to  the  American  sorcerers  or  conjurors.*  According  to 
Mr.  Ellis,  the  language  of  these  tribes  belongs  to  the  Polyne 
sian  class,  and  they  are  supposed  to  be  the  descendants  of  Ja 
vanese  colonists. 

Etruria.  Italy,  it  is  well  known,  was  occupied  in  distant 
ages  by  enlightened  nations,  who  have  been  distinguished  by 
the  learned  under  various  names,  as  the  Pelasgians,  Oenotrians, 
Etruscans,  Ausonians,  and  Oscans.  From  their  traditions  and 
monuments,  the  Oscans  and  Etruscans,  or  rather  the  Etruri 
ans,  appear  to  be  assimilated  to  the  cultivated  races  of  Amer 
ica.  Every  thing  relative  to  these  people,  however,  is  envel 
oped  in  mysterious  darkness.  Even  the  Etruscan  language 
which  was  once  understood  by  the  Romans,  is  now  entirely 
lost.  Like  the  Mexican,  it  appears  to  have  been  harsh,  and 
consonants  were  its  predominant  sounds.  Antiquarians  have 
traced  some  analogies  to  the  Mexican  language,  and  the  words 
deciphered  in  a  Perugian  inscription  in  Tuscany,  Spancxl, 
Eplt,  and  Thunchultl,  certainly  bear  some  resemblance  to  the 
Mexican.  The  divination,  the  rituals,  and  the  sacred -ceremo 
nies  of  the  Romans,  which  were  mostly  of  Etrurian  origin,  indi- 

*  Hist  Madagascar,  by  Rev.  W.  Ellis,  vol.  i.  pp.  73,  88,  110,  127 ; 
vol.  ii.  pp.  164,  221,  55,  etc. 

In  the  appendix  to  this  work  the  following  passage  occurs : 
"  Hence  it  may  not  be  extravagant  to  express  an  opinion  that  the 
great  Polynesian  language  has  extended  its  powerful  influence  even 
into  the  two  remote  continents  of  Africa  on  the  west,  and  South 
America  on  the  east."  Vol.  i.  p.  493. 


368 


RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 


-cate  that  worship  of  nature  and  of  the  elements,  which  was  the 
first  and  purest  form  of  Sabaism.  On  the  day  of  the  third  and 
,great  festival  of  the  Mexican  god  Tlaloc,  the  god  of  water, 
which  was  held  in  the  month  of  May,  the  temple  was  strewed 
with  rushes  brought  from  the  lake  Citlaltepec.  After  perform 
ing  other  sacrifices,  the  priests,  followed  by  the  people  in  pro 
cession,  proceeded  to  a  certain  part  of  the  lake  where  in  former 
times  there  was  a  whirlpool,  and  plunged  two  children  of  dif 
ferent  sex  into  the  water,  together  with  the  hearts  of  the  other 
human  victims  who  had  been  sacrificed.  In  Italy,  on  the  Ides 
of  May,  the  Vestal  Virgins  took  thirty  images  of  men  made 
of  rushes,  and  accompanied  by  a  sacred  procession,  threw  the 
mock  sacrifices  into  the  Tiber,  from  the  Sublician  bridge,  in  the 
place  of  an  equal  number  of  human  beings  formerly  devoted  to 
the  same  rites.  In  Mexico  the  termination  of  a  cycle  was  at 
tended  with  the  extinguishment  of  the  old  fires  which  were 
kept  in  the  Teocalli,  and  the  kindling  of  the  new  with  joyous 
ceremonies.  The  Etruscans  also  celebrated  their  secular  pe 
riods  by  festivals,  and  at  Rome,  on  the  first  of  March  in  each 
year,  a  new  fire  was  lighted  in  the  temple  of  Vesta. 

The  Romans  derived  their  most  ancient  calendar  from  the 
Etrurians.  The  year  of  Romulus  consisted  of  three  hundred 
and  four  days,  subdivided  into  ten  months,  and  weeks  of  eight 
days.  This,  like  the  Aztec  ritual  calendar,  is  manifestly  arbi 
trary  and  derived  from  no  astronomical  period.  The  Aztec 
ritual  month,  it  has  already  been  observed,  represented  the  light 
and  dark  halves  of  the  moon,  and  the  same  division  into  half 
lunations  is  perceived  in  the  Roman  Ides.  Both  of  these  curi 
ous  systems  of  chronology,  bore  a  relation  to  a  certain  great 
secular  period  which  they  measured,  and  which  was  formed 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  369 

from  an  accurate  idea  of  the  true  duration  of  the  solar  year. 
The  Etrurians  had  a  great  cycle  of  one  hundred  and  ten  years, 
during  which  two  intercalations  were  made  in  the  fifty-sixth, 
and  one  hundred  and  tenth  years,  whereby  the  religious  year 
of  three  hundred  and  four  days,  and  its  eight  day  divisions,  cor 
responded  with  the  true  time  and  the  course  of  the  sun.  The 
close  of  the  great  Mexican  cycle  of  one  hundred  and  four  years 
was  the  time  also  when  the  ritual  year  of  two  hundred  and 
sixty  days  accorded  with  the  solar  year.  The  peculiar  con 
struction  of  these  calendars  is  to  be  elucidated  only  by  refer 
ence  to  the  religious  institutions  of  Italy  and  Mexico.  They 
had  probably  been  adopted  at  an  early  age,  as  the  only  prac 
ticable  means  of  celebrating  the  rites  of  religion  upon  certain 
stated  days.  In  all  important  public  ceremonies,  in  all  festi 
vals,  in  the  fulfilment  of  vows  and  the  performance  of  sacri 
fices,  "  where  even  an  involuntary  transgression  threatens  to 
draw  down  vengeance"  from  heaven,  this  invariable  and  uner 
ring  system  became  highly  valuable  as  a  sacred  calendar, 
whilst  at  the  same  time  some  degree  of  real  order  was  preserved 
by  making  it  correspond  at  the  end  of  a  particular  number  of 
years  with  the  course  of  the  sun.*  The  Mexicans  appear  to 
have  calculated  the  length  of  the  year  at  three  hundred  and 
sixty-five  days,  five  hours  and  fifty  minutes,  and  the  Etrurians 
at  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days,  five  hours  and  forty  mi 
nutes,  a  degree  of  accuracy  which  excites  our  astonishment ; 
and  like  other  ancient  people,  they  both  believed  that  at  the 
end  of  certain  astronomical  cycles,  periodical  changes  in  na- 

*  Was  not  the  same  object  attained  by  the  great  Sothiac  Period 
in  Egypt? 

47 


370  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

ture  would  occur,  and  these  were  watched  with  great  anxiety 
and  fear. 

In  Italy  and  America,  human  sacrifices  were  customary 
at  the  graves  of  chiefs  and  other  illustrious  individuals,  but  in 
Italy  they  were  eventually  superseded  by  gladiatorial  exhibi 
tions.  Reference  has  been  made  to  the  gladiatorial  contests 
which  were  usual  in  Mexico  upon  certain  religious  festivals ; 
on  the  other  hand,  the  Etrurians  introduced  gladiatorial  games 
into  Italy,  and  their  use  and  prevalence  at  Rome  may  be  traced 
to  this  source. 

The  massive  style  of  architecture,  and  some  of  the  peculiar 
features  which  characterize  the  arts  of  the  Etrurians,  are  sup 
posed  to  have  been  borrowed  from  the  first  and  conquered  in 
habitants  of  the  country ;  and  the  same  remark  is  applicable  to 
many  of  the  Etrurian  institutions.  For  the  origin  of  all  such 
traits  of  resemblance  as  may  appear,  we  are  to  go  back  to  the 
earliest  ages  of  Italian  history.  The  most  ancient  style  of  ar 
chitecture  in  Italy  belongs  to  that,  which,  from  its  colossal  char 
acter,  the  use  of  prodigious  masses  of  stone,  and  from  tradition, 
is  called  the  work  of  the  giants  or  the  Cyclops.  In  America, 
and  particularly  in  Peru,  the  great  size  of  the  stones,  the  ap 
pearance  of  polygonal  walls,  and  of  the  Cyclopean  arch,  indi 
cate  a  similar  method  of  construction.  Pliny,  on  the  authority 
of  Varro,  has  transmitted  to  us  a  description  of  the  mausoleum 
of  Porsenna,  above  which  was  raised  a  series  of  pyramids, 
which  indicate  analogies  to  the  structures  of  Egypt  and  Mex 
ico.  The  custom  of  burning  the  dead ;  of  depositing  articles 
used  by  the  deceased  in  his  lifetime,  in  the  sepulchres;  the 
practice  of  divination ;  the  conical  caps  worn  by  the  Roman 
Flamens,  from  which  he  took  his  name,  and  which  were 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  371 

common  in  the  East,  and  are  perceived  on  the  Mexican  monu 
ments  ;  the  dramatic  entertainments,  which  were  original  with 
the  Oscans,  borrowed  from  them  by  the  Etruscans,  and  thence 
introduced,  subsequently,  into  Rome ;  the  religious  use  of  cir 
cular  mirrors ;  the  incinerary  urns  and  vases ;  the  Etruscan  pat 
terns  observed  in  the  Mexican  monumental  paintings;  the  Red 
men  painted  on  the  walls  of  the  tombs  at  Tarquinii,  all  es 
tablish  other  links  of  connection  between  the  Etrurians  and  the 
civilized  nations  of  America ;  not  as  indicating,  however,  that 
the  latter  were  of  Etrurian  origin,  but  as  proving  the  great  an 
tiquity  of  these  features  in  their  monuments  and  institutions; 
not  as  establishing  a  regular  and  lineal  descent;  but  rather  sug 
gesting  an  ancient  connection  in  the  remotest  ages  of  the  world, 
when  the  arts,  customs,  and  religion  of  primitive  nations  re 
ceived  that  stamp  which  still  continued  to  characterize  them 
after  the  separation  of  nations. 

Egypt.  As  it  has  been  attempted  to  trace  the  Etrurian  civ 
ilization  to  Egypt,  so  the  original  connection  and  identical 
origin  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Egypt  and  India  has  been 
maintained  with  great  ability  and  learning.  As  will  shortly 
be  shown,  some  of  the  pyramidical  edifices  of  Egypt  are  pre 
cisely  similar  to  the  Mexican  terraced  pyramids ;  in  the  orna 
mental  stucco  work  of  Mitlan  and  other  American  temples  ap 
pear  those  peculiar  borders  of  meanders  and  grecques,  which  are 
found  alike  upon  the  ruins  of  Etruria,  Egypt,*  and  India ;  and 
the  Cyclopean  arch  was  common  to  the  Mexican  and  Egyptian 
monuments.  The  entrances  to  the  Egyptian  temples  or  propy- 
Icea  are  in  fact  truncated  pyramids.  Most  of  the  Egyptian  py- 

*  Denoh,  vol.  ii.  p.  5. 


372  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

ramids  face  the  cardinal  points ;  many  of  the  temples,  or  sacred 
places  are  surrounded  like  the  American,  by  enclosures  or  walls 
of  brick  and  stone  ;*  the  pyramids  are  often  approached  by 
elevated  causeways  or  roads  ;f  and  as  is  often  the  case  in  Amer 
ica,  the  temples  were  in  the  vicinity  of  water,  with  which  they 
communicated  by  avenues,  or  by  subterranean  passages;  or  they 
contained  in  their  interior,  basins  or  tanks  of  water  for  the 
sacred  services.  Sepulchral  mounds  or  tumuli  are  to  be  ob 
served  in  Egypt,  and  the  Egyptians  interred  with  the  dead  the 
instruments  of  their  profession.  No  nation  bestowed  more  care 
in  disposing  of  the  remains  of  the  dead  than  the  Egyptians  ;J 
Dupuis§  declares  "  ancestral  veneration"  to  be  one  of  the  traits 
of  Sabaism,  and  this  sentiment  is  a  peculiar  feature  in  the  abo 
riginal  character.  Embalming  was  customary  in  Peru  and 
other  civilized  countries,  and  was  common  also  to  many  of  the 
barbarous  tribes.  The  same  doctrines  appear  to  have  prevailed 
in  relation  to  the  transmigration  of  souls,  and  the  Mexicans, 
like  the  Egyptians,  believed  in  the  existence  of  a  mansion  for 
the  dead,  where  the  spirit  remained  for  a  temporary  period  until 
it  was  sent  back  again  to  inhabit  other  bodies, — in  Mexico, 
usually,  the  bodies  of  animals.||  Mictlanteuctli,  the  Mexican 

*  Burckhardt,  p.  50.  f  Belzoni,  vol.  ii.  pp.  158,  160. 

+  In  the  Aztec  and  Toltec  sacrifices,  the  breast  of  the  victim  was 
opened  with  a  knife  of  obsidian,  and  the  heart  taken  out.  In  Egypt, 
though  great  skill  had  been  attained  in  metallurgy,  yet  stone  knives 
have  been  found  in  the  tombs,  and  the  body  of  the  dead,  in  the  process 
of  embalming,  was  opened  with  an  Ethiopic  stone,  or  flint. —  Wil 
kinson,  vol.  ii.  pp.  261,  262. 

§  Dupuis,  vol.  i.  p.  25. 

||  Clavig.,  vol.  i.  p.  242.     Pritchard's  Egyptian  Mythology,  p.  202. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  373 

"  lord  of  hell "  resembles  the  Egyptian  Sarapis,  or  ruler  of  the 
dead ;  the  Egyptian  Anubis  was  represented  in  his  statues  with 
the  head  of  a  doo- ;  dogs  were  sacred  animals  and  fed  in  his  tern- 

t?   7  O 

pies,  and  it  was  the  office  of  this  god  to  conduct  the  souls  of 
the  dead  to  their  place  of  destination.*  One  of  the  chief  cere 
monies  at  the  Mexican  funerals,  "  was  the  killing  a  techichi,  a 
domestic  quadruped,  resembling  a  little  dog,  to  accompany  the 
deceased  in  their  journey  to  the  other  world.  *  *  They  were 
firmly  persuaded,  that  without  such  a  guide,  it  would  be  impos 
sible  to  get  through  some  dangerous  ways  which  led  to  the 
other  world."f 

The  religion  of  the  aboriginal  nations  partook  of  the  same 
primitive  character  as  that  of  Egypt.  The  traits  of  resem 
blance  were  the  recognition  of  the  existence  of  a  Supreme  Be 
ing,  the  neglect  of  his  worship  for  a  debased  idolatry,  the  belief 
in  divine  emanations,  the  doctrine  of  a  divine  triad,  the  worship 
of  the  elements,  of  the  celestial  bodies,!  and  of  animals,  the 
practising  of  fasts,  ablutions,  and  expiatory  punishments  in  pre 
paration  for  sacred  festivals,  the  association  of  a  female  wfch 
some  of  the  principal  male  deities,  human  sacrifices,  astrologi 
cal  and  magical  divination,  and  the  belief  in  the  metempsycho 
sis,  and  the  immortality  of  tlje  soul.  Some  of  the  animals  sa 
cred  in  America  were  also  worshipped  in  Egypt,  as  the  dog, 
(the  serpent,  the  eagle,  the  owl,  the  tortoise,  and  the  wolf.§  As 
in  the  Egyptian  mythology,  Osiris  stands  opposed  to  Typhon, 

*  Pritchard,  p.  126.  f  Clavig.,  vol.  i.  p.  325. 

t  The  Pharaohs  had  the  same  name  as  the  Peruvian  Incas — 
"Children  of  the  Sun." 

§  Denon,  vol.  ii.  p.  71.  Garcillasso  de  la  Vega,  voL  i.  p.  72. 
Pritchard,  pp.  292,  295,  390.  Herod.,  1.  i.  ci  6. 


374  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

the  one  representing  the  creative  and  the  other  the  destroying 
power,  Quetzalcoatl  and  Tezcatlipoca  take  precisely  the  same 
place  in  the  Mexican  mythology.  Osiris  was  the  instructor  of 
mankind,  and  taught  them  agriculture  and  other  useful  arts, — 
the  same  office  was  assigned  to  Quetzalcoatl.  Osiris  travelled 
for  the  purpose  of  reclaiming  foreign  nations  from  barbarism, 
and  it  was  in  the  midst  of  a  banquet  on  his  return,  that  Typhon 
laid  a  stratagem  for  his  destruction.  Tezcatlipoca  desiring  to 
drive  away  Quetzalcoatl,  offered  him  a  beverage  which  imme 
diately  inspired  him  with  the  desire  to  set  out  for  the  imaginary 
country  of  Tlapalla,  and  on  his  journey  he  suddenly  disappeared 
upon  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.*  On  the  other  hand  a 
similar  parallel  may  be  drawn  between  Isis  and  the  Mexican 
goddess,  Centeotl.  Isis  taught  the  cultivation  of  corn,  and  re 
presented  the  earth  and  the  passive  productive  powers  of  nature. 
Centeotl  was  "  goddess  of  the  earth  and  of  corn,"f  and  typified 
the  fertility  of  nature ;  Isis  was  called  "  mistress  "  and  "  mo 
ther,"  and  was  the  first  of  the  goddesses,  and  Centeotl  was  de- 
r^ninated  Tonantzin,  "  our  mother,"  and  Teteoinan,  "  the  mo 
ther  of  the  gods."  Without  entering  into  details,  it  may  be 
added,  that  the  same  impure  worship  which  appears  to  have 
been  produced  by  a  recognition  of  these  principles  in  the  Egyp 
tian  religion,  seems  to  have  existed  also  in  America.  Hum- 
boldt  thought  otherwise ;  but  the  recent  discovery  of  some  an 
cient  idols  in  the  western  part  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
sculptures  at  Uxmal  described  by  Waldeck,  set  this  question  at 
rest :  at  the  same  time  it  must  be  admitted  that  these  rites  were 
not  extensively  prevalent. 

*  Clavig.,  vol.  i.  p.  248.  t  Ibid.,  p.  253. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  375 

QuetzalcoatHn  some  of  his  attributes,  presents  also  some 
remarkable  analogies  to  the  Egyptian  Thoth  or  Hermes.     The 
former  was  called  "  green  feathered  serpent,"  and  "  the  god  of 
the  air,"  was  supposed  to  have  the  most  profound  wisdom,  and 
introduced  the  knowledge  of  melting  metals  and  of  cutting  gems, 
established  wise  laws,  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  religion,  and 
the  arrangement  of  the  seasons  and  the  calendar;*  he  was  also 
said  "  to  dear  the  way  for  the  god  of  water"     Hermes  taught 
the  arts  and  sciences,  sculpture  and  astronomy,  and  imparted  the 
institution  of  religion ;  he  was  identical  also  with  Sirius,  "  the 
star  which  served  as  the  precursor  of  the  inundation  of  the  Nile  "If 
The  Egyptians  regarded  the  heart  as  the  seat  of  the  intellect, 
and  hence  the  Ibis,  which  from  its  form  was  symbolical  of  the 
heart,  was  sacred  to  Hermes  as  the  god  of  wisdom.J     "  The 
Cholulans,"  says  Clavigero,  "  preserved  with  the  highest  vene 
ration,  some  small  green  stones  very  well  cut,  which  they  said 
had  belonged  to  Quetzalcoatl."     These  stones  were  sacred  to 
that  deity ;  and  their  signification  appears  from  another  passage 
from  the  same  author  in  his  description  of  the  Mexican  funeral 
rites.     "  After  burning  the  body,  they  gather  the  ashes  in  an 
earthen  pot,  amongst  which,  according  to  the  circumstances  of 
the  deceased,  they  put  a  gem  of  more  or  less  value,  which  they 
said  would  serve  him  in  place  of  a  heart  in  the  other  world." 
And  again,  "  they  hung  an  emerald  at  the  under  lip,  which 
was  to  serve  in  place  of  a  heart."     *     *     "  Emeralds  were 
so  common   that  no  lord  or  noble  wanted  them,  and  none 
of  them  died,  without  having  one  fixed  to  his  lip,  that  it  might 

*  Clavig.,  vol.  i.  p.  249. 

t  Anthon's  Class.  Diet.,  article  Mercurius. 

J  Pritchard,  p.  129. 


376  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

serve  him,  as  they  imagined,  instead  of  a  he*art."  The  two 
small  pyramids  of  challa,  with  the  figure  of  a  heart  engraven 
upon  them,  discovered  by  Del  Rio  at  Palenque,  were  probably 
symbolical  of  the  same  idea. 

There  are  remains  of  causeways  or  roads  in  Egypt,  which 
may  compare  with  those  in  America;*  the  art  of  irrigation  was 
practised  on  the  same  extensive  scale,  and  many  of  the  Egyp 
tian  cities  were  surrounded  by  earthen  embankments  for  the 
purpose  of  protection  against  inundations,!  which  appears  also 
to  have  been  the  object  of  many  of  the  mural  remains  in  the 
United  States. 

The  Hermaic  books  preserved  in  the  Egyptian  temples,  like 
those  of  the  Aztecs,  contained  the  outlines  of  their  astrology, 
astronomy,  their  rituals,  the  histories  of  their  mythology,  and 
indeed  all  that  was  known  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  which  were 
in  the  possession  of  the  priests  alone.  The  Mexican  manu 
script  painting  possessed  many  of  the  attributes  of  real  hiero- 
glyphical  writing.  It  did  not  consist  merely  of  mimetic  images, 
such  as  are  often  found  on  the  Egyptian  tombs,  but  it  was  fet 
tered  by  prescribed  forms;  nearly  all  its  elements  had  a  fixed 
meaning,  and  had  thus  become,  to  an  extent,  conventional  signs. 
Some  of  these  signs  unquestionably  possessed  an  arbitrary  sig 
nification,  such  as  those  which  indicated  numbers  and  the  ele 
ments.  The  numbers  to  twenty!  were  represented  by  dots  or 
points,  twenty  by  a  flag,  four  hundred  by  a  feather ;  day,  night, 
midnight,  the  year,  the  century,  the  heavens,  air,  earth  and  wa- 

*  Denon,  vol.  ii.  p.  147. 
t  Wilkinson,  vol.  i.  p.  103.     Herod.,  ii.  113^ 
|  There  is  reason  to  suspect  that  the  number  ten  was  indicated 
by  a  straight  line. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  377 

ter  were  all  denoted  by  symbolical  characters.  The  figures  for 
the  names  of  cities,  and  the  astronomical  representations  of  the 
names  of  the  months  were  also  real  symbols,  which  suggested 
the  sounds  of  those  names,  upon  being  seen.  Indeed  the  usual 
picture-writing  of  the  Mexicans  resembles  that  found  upon  the 
clothing  of  the  Egyptian  mummies,  and  was  of  a  mixed  char 
acter.  But  beyond  all  this,  there  jare  traces  of  real  phonetic 
hieroglyphics  in  those  signs  which  appear  upon  the  monuments 
above  the  heads  of  the  gods,  which,  like  the  Egyptian  hiero 
glyphics  of  the  names  of  the  gods,  were  enclosed  in  an  oblong 
rectangle.*  The  characters  in  the  Codex  Mexicanus  at  Dres 
den,  suggest  the  existence  of  even  a  complete  system  of  pho 
netic  hieroglyphics.  There  could  be  no  doubt  on  this  point,  if 
there  were  not  some  reason  to  suppose  that  they  have  an  astro 
nomical  signification ;  but  even  in  that  case,  they  still  present 
the  appearance  of  real  cursive  characters ;  for,  upon  analyzing 
the  groups  of  figures,  we  find  the  same  elements  often  repeated 
in  different  combinations.  The  state  of  our  knowledge,  how 
ever,  upon  this  subject,  renders  it  impossible  to  decide  this  in 
teresting  question ;  to  arrive  at  a  positive  conclusion  it  needs 
that  the  picture-writings,  now  so  extensively  scattered  over 
Europe,  should  be  brought  together  and  be  carefully  scrutinized 
and  compared,  that  the  monuments  themselves  should  be  exam 
ined  with  direct  reference  to  this  inquiry  ;  and  it  is  yet  possible, 
with  the  means  still  remaining  for  acquiring  a  knowledge  of 
the  Aztec,  Toltec,  and  Maya  dialects,  that  these  characters  may 
be  deciphered,  and  that  a  new  flood  of  light  may  be  shed  upon 
the  social  and  religious  history  of  those  nations.  The  monu- 


*  Heeren's  Res.,  vol.  ii.  p.  9.     See  an  able  article  on  Mexican 
Antiquities,  in  For.  Q,r.  Rev.,  No.  35. 

48 


378 


RESEARCHES  INTO  THE   ORIGIN  AND 


raents  and  paintings  are  loaded  with  symbolic  figures,  few  of 
which  have  yet  been  interpreted ;  and  it  is  apparent  they  are 
explanatory  of  the  actions,  scenes,  rites  and  ceremonies  which 
they  accompany.  Whether  they  be  real  hieroglyphics  or  not 
is  of  comparatively  little  importance ;  for  it  is  clear  they  afford 
the  only  key  to  unlock  the  recondite  meaning  of  these  symbolic 
representations. 

The  Mexican  and  Egyptian  priests  were  recluses,*  and  lived 
in  apartments  within  or  adjoining  the  temples ;  arid  those  stone 
benches  which  have  been  observed  at  Palenque,  and  whereon 
it  is  supposed  the  priests  were  accustomed  to  sleep,  are  similar 
to  the  stone  couches  which  appear  in  the  apartments  of  the 
priests  in  the  Egyptian  temples. 

Many  of  the  Toltec,  Aztec  and  Maya  sculptures  are  similar 
in  style  to  the  Egyptian.  The  calantica  or  veil  upon  the  statue 
of  an  Aztec  priestess,  described  by  Humboldt,  resembles  some 
of  the  statuary  head-dresses  in  Egypt,f  and  particularly  those 
of  Isis  and  Osiris :  the  artificial  form  of  the  fluted  ear-tress  is 
clearly  Egyptian.  The  beautifully  executed  Caryatides  at 
Uxmal  with  caps  on  their  heads,  the  arms  crossed,  and  some 
instrument  in  one  hand,  resemble  the  Egyptian  Caryatides  seen 
by  Denon,  and  the  figures  observed  by  Richardson  and  Henni- 
ker  at  Karnac  and  Ebsambal,  which  like  those  of  Osiris  at  the 
Memnonium  have  their  arms  crossed  upon  their  breast,  holding  in 
one  hand  a  tau,\  and  in  the  other  a  flagellum.§  Mexican  and 

*  Bryant's  Mythology,  vol.  iv.  p.  278. 

f  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  45. 

J  According  to  Waldeck,  one  of  the  figures  in  the  "temple  of  the 
Serp.ents,"  at  Uxmal,  is  represented  with  the  tau  on  the  breast. — 
Voyage  Pittoresque,  p.  104. 

§  Henniker,  p.  160.    Denon,  vol.  ii.  p.  166. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  379 

Egyptian  statuary  accords  in  another  particular;  the  human 
figure  is  seldom  left  free,  but  the  back  is  generally  attached,  to< 
a  mass  of  stone  or  imbedded  in  walls  ;  and  where  the  stone  is  a 
single  detached  block,  the  back  is  often  covered  with  hierogly 
phics.*  The  Egyptians  are  sometimes  represented  as  sitting 
cross-legged  or  crouchedf  (in  the  Indian  fashion),  and  this 
position  is  common  in  the  Mexican  figures ;  the  principal  god 
at  Palenque  is  seated  cross-legged  upon  a  couch,  with  the  head 
of  a  tiger  rising  from  each  end,  similar  to  the  tiger-shaped 
Egyptian  couch.  The  Mexican  sculptures  appear  to  be  fully 
equal  to  the  Egyptian  in  elegance,  execution,  and  precision  of 
outline.  Upon  the  monuments  of  both  people  are  abundant  indica 
tions  of  that  patient,  untiring  labor,  which  was  essential  to  the 
accomplishment  of  minute  precision  in  the  execution  of  numerous 
hieroglyphical  figures,  and  rich  and  complicated  ornaments,- 
most  of  which,  from  their  religious  character,  were  to  be  finished 
to  the  most  scrupulous  degree  of  exactness.!  No  scope  was- 
allowed  to  the  genius  of  the  artist ;  the  principal  forms  were 
settled  and  prescribed,  and  his  ingenuity,  if  not  wholly  repressed, 
was  restricted  to  the  invention  of  inferior  ornaments,  which, 
though  they  increased  the  richness  of  the  sculpture,  did  not  in 
fringe  upon  their  conventional  rules. 

There  is  some  similarity  in  the  costume  of  the  figures  painted 
on  the  Egyptian  monuments,  to  that  of  the  Mexicans.  The 
apron,  was  in  some  respects  alike;  in  front  was  something  re- 

*  Egyptian  Antiquities,  Lib.  Ent.  Knowledge,  vol.  ii.  pp.  7,  16. 

f  Wilkinson,  vol.  i.  pp.  191,  204.  When  bearing  sacred  emblems 
before  the  shrine  of  a  deity,  or  desirous  of  showing  respect  to  a  su 
perior,  they  generally  sat  upon  their  heels.. 

J  Denon,   voL  iii.  p.  7. 


380  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

sembling  a  streamer,  descending  from  the  girdle  or  the  middle,* 
and  behind  often  appears  the  representation  of  the  tail  of  an 
animal;  in  other  respects,  however,  the  Mexican  apron  was 
peculiar.  The  Mexicanf  figures  frequently  wear  upon  the 
breast  a  medal  with  the  representation  of  a  human  head,  and 
the  same  may  be  often  observed  in  the  Egyptian  paintings  and 
sculptures.  In  the  paintings  of  both  people  may  be  perceived 
the  figures  of  captives  dragged  along  by  the  victor,  by  the  hair, 
and  dressed  in  skins.J  The  Mexican  paintings  in  the  temples, 
like  the  Egyptian  anaglyphs,  are  arranged  in  compartments  or 
divisions,^  each  of  which  seems  to  be  complete  of  itself,  and  to 
have  an  allegorical  or  symbolic  meaning ;  and  the  colors  ap 
pear  often  to  have  been  applied  according  to  some  conventional 
rule.  The  human  figures  are  not  portraits,  but  are  drawn  after 
certain  fixed  forms;  and  though  the  statues  are  usually  re 
presented  with  the  full  face,  the  paintings  are  generally  in 
outline  or  profile. 

Other  points  of  similitude  between  the  Egyptians  and  the 
nations  of  New  Spain  are  indicated  in  the  custom  of  tattooing ; 
the  use  of  masks  by  the  priests  in  religious  ceremonies  ;||  the 
sacred  character  of  the  lotus  ;  the  practice  of  shaving  the  head,U 
or  the  tonsure,  which  though  not  usual  in  Mexico  was  common 

*  Wilkinson,  vol.  i.  p.  406. 

f  Though  the  term  Mexican  has  been  employed  forfthe  sake  of 
brevity,  in  the  course  of  the  argument,  the  comparison  is  intended  to 
apply  to  all  the  cultivated  nations  comprised  within  the  limits  of  the 
former  kingdom  of  New  Spain. 

\  Egyptian  Antiquities,  vol.  i.  p.  394.  Denon,  vol.  iii.  p.  12. 
Burckhardt,  pp.  109,  83.  Belzoni,  vol.  i.  p.  127. 

§  Drummond's  Origines,  vol.  ii.  p.  291. 

||  Heeren's  Res.,  vol.  ii.  p.  296.         U  Herodotus,  ii.  36 ;  iii.  12. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  381 

in  other  parts  of  America ;  the  resemblance  of  the  Mexican  and 
ancient  Egyptian  flute,  each  having  but  four  holes,  and  their 
use  in  sacred  services;*  the  similar  methods  of  manufacturing 
paper,  in  one  case  from  the  papyrus,  and  in  the  other  from  the 
agave;  the  religious  use  of  mirrors;  the  dramatic  entertainments 
and  buffooneries ;  the  religious  dances  in  the  temples ;  the  occa 
sional  employment  of  women  in  sacred  offices;  the  existence  of  an 
Ophite  worship ;  the  practice  of  sculpture  painting  ;  the  beads, 
necklaces,  bracelets,  anklets,  the  sandals,  conical  caps,  head 
dresses  of  feathers,  with  which  the  human  figures  are  represented ; 
the  nearly  identical  form  of  the  Mexican  and  Egyptian  grana 
ries  ;f  and  in  the  Cyclopean  arches,  the  obelisks,  planispheres  and 
pyramids.  In  opposition  to  all  these  analogies,  however,  there 
are  great  and  striking  differences  in  the  arts,  customs,  institu 
tions,  and  in  architecture,  which  forbid  the  conclusion  that  the 
American  nations  were  of  Egyptian  origin. 

India.  Passing  from  Egypt  into  a  country  whose  civiliza 
tion  was  of  a  kindred  character,  India,  we  discover  still  closer 
affinities  in  religion  and  institutions  to  those  of  the  cultivated 
nations  of  America.  In  the  Hindoo  religion  may  be  traced  the 
same  vestiges  of  a  purer  and  higher  belief  in  ancient  times ;  of 
its  gradual  modification  under  the  doctrine  of  emanations,  and 
under  the  personification  of  the  productive  and  destroying 
powers  of  nature ;  and  its  ultimate  debasement  into  the  most 
horrid  superstitions.  The  clear  and  definite  language  in  which 
the  faith  of  the  Hindoos  in  the  existence  of  the  Supreme  Being 
is  expressed  in  their  works  of  authority,  has  been  shown.J  The 

*  Wilkinson,  vol.  i.  p.  364.  f  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  135. 

|  As  in  America  the  Creator  was  not  worshipped.  In  all  Hin- 
doostan  but  one  temple  has  been  erected  to  the  true  God,  and  that 
contains  no  idol. 


382  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIpIN  AND 

great  and  characterizing  feature  of  Sabaism, — the  worship  of  the 
Sun  and  moon  and  other  heavenly  bodies — next  appears.  At 
Benares  there  still  remain  several  temples,  upon  the  altars  of 
which  a  perpetual  fire  is  preserved  like  that  maintained  on  the 
Mexican  Teocalli,  and  in  the  temples  of  Vesta.  The  holiest 
text  of  the  Vedas  is  addressed  to  the  Sun  :  "  Let  us  meditate  on 
the  adorable  light  of  the  Divine  Ruler  :  may  it  guide  our  intel 
lects."  The  Brahmins  still  pray  to  that  luminary,*  and  it  is 
often  confounded,  as  an  object  of  adoration,  with  the  gods  of  the 
Trimurti,  and  even  with  the  Supreme  SouL  The  worship  of 
the  stars,  the  moon,  the  signs  of  the  zodiac,  was  and  is  equally 
prevalent ;  and  as  the  study  of  astronomy  was  confined  to  the 
priests,  a  most  extensive  system  of  astrology  arose,  so  that  even 
to  this  day  the  Astrologer  is  one  of  the  regular  public  officers  in 
the  Hindoo  towns ;  and  as  in  Mexico,  not  only  are  the  fortunes 
of  mortals  decided  by  sidereal  influences,  but  few  important  en 
terprises  are  undertaken,  without  first  consulting  the  aspect  of 
those  bodies.  The  worship  of  evil  spirits,  though  now  discoun 
tenanced  by  the  Brahmins,  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the 
traits  of  the  most  ancient  religion,!  and  even  those  priests,  in 
cases  of  sickness,  attempt  to  conciliate  these  malignant  deities. 
In  some  portions  of  India  the  greater  part  of  the  inhabitants 
have  no  other  worship,  and,  as  with  our  aboriginal  nations, 
"  every  house  and  each  family  has  its  own  particular  Bhuta, 
who  stands  for  its  tutelary  god ;  and  to  whom  daily  prayers, 
and  propitiatory  sacrifices  are  offered,  not  only  to  incline  him  to 
withhold  his  own  machinations,  but  to  defend  them  from  the 
evils  which  the  Bhutas  of  their  neighbors  or  enemies  might  in- 

*  Asiatic  Res.,  vol.  v.  p.  354.    Mill's  India,  vol.  ii.  pp.  145,  334. 
f  Ward,  vol.  i.  p.  73. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  383 

flict.  In  those  parts,  the  image  of  the  demon  is  everywhere 
seen  represented  in  a  hideous  form,  and  often  by  a  shapeless 
stone."  Thus  we  find  in  India  and  America  the  same  prominent 
features  in  the  prevalent  religion,  but  on  examining  the  Hindoo 
mythology,  there  are  more  decided  traces  of  connection.  In 
Mexico,  after  the  Supreme  Being,  the  god  Tezcatlipoca  was  the 
most  venerated.  His  name  signified  u  shining  mirror,"  and  his 
principal  image  was  of  a  black  shining  stone — Teotletl — Divine 
stone.  He  was  represented  as  black,  and  as  sitting  upon  a 
bench  covered  with  a  red  cloth,  skulls,  and  the  bones  of  the 
dead.  As  a  general  analogy  has  already  been  indicated  between 
this  deity  and  the  Egyptian  Typhon,  so,  on  the  other  hand,  he 
presents  a  not  less  striking  resemblance  to  the  Hindoo  Siva, 
the  representative  of  the  destructive  powers  of  the  universe. 
Tezcatlipoca  was  always  represented  young,  as  being  supe 
rior  to  the  effects  of  time,  and  Siva  when  worshipped  as  Maha 
Kala,  or  "  Time,  the  Great  Destroyer,"  is  represented  as  "  a 
smoke-colored  youth,  with  three  eyes,  clothed  in  red  garments, 
with  a  chaplet  of  human  skulls  about  his  neck,"*  and  Parvati 
or  Kali  his  goddess  is  also  figured  with  a  black  face,  with  a 
chaplet  of  skulls,  and  with  a  mirror  in  her  hand.  Black  mar 
ble  was  also  the  symbol  of  Siva,  and  is  found  under  the  form  of 
the  Lingam,  or  otherwise,  in  most  of  the  Pagodas  dedicated  to 
him.  The  former  prevalence  of  human  sacrifices  in  Hindoostan 
is  beyond  question,  and  probably  to  no  deities  were  these  made 
more  frequently  than  to  Siva  and  Kali.f  To  the  Mexican  Tez- 

*  Lib.  Ent.  Know.,  Hindoos,  vol.  i.  p.  168.  Mod.  Trav.  India, 
vol.  viii.  pp.  265,  266 ;  vol.  vi.  p.  167.  Mill's  India,  vol.  i.  p.  337. 

f  Bombay  Trans.,  vol.  iii.  pp.  86,  89.  Heber,  vol.  ii.  pp.  415, 
420  ;  vol.  iii.  pp.  261,  264. 


384  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

catlipoca  also,  the  same  revolting  sacrifices  were  offered,  parti 
cularly  at  the  great  festival  in  the  month  of  May,  when  the 
head  of  the  yictim  was  strung  up  on  the  Tzompantli,  with  the 
rest  of  the  skulls  of  victims.  The  Hindoos  appear  to  have  been 
divided  for  many  ages  into  sects,  each  of  which  exhibited  a 
preference  for  one  of  the  Trimurti,  Brahma,  Vishnoo  or  Siva.* 
"  This  contention  for  pre-eminence  ended  in  the  (nearly)  total 
suppression  of  the  worship  of  Brahma,  and  the  temporary  sub 
mission  of  Vishnoo  to  the  superiority  of  Siva."  The  controversy 
was  not  merely  a  contest  for  an  arbitrary  preference,  but  in 
volved  a  principle.  Siva  representing  the  destroying,  and 
Vishnoo  the  preserving  power  of  nature,  the  sacrifices  to  each 
were  appropriate ;  the  one  was  conciliated  only  by  blood,  the 
other  by  offerings  of  fruits  and  flowers.  Accordingly,  in  the 
ninth  avatar  or  incarnation  of  Vishnoo,  he  came  as  the  Reformer, 
Buddha,  proscribing  the  sacrifice  of  animals ;  and  a  fierce  con 
test  ensued  between  the  two  sects,  which  finally  ended  in  the 
triumph  of  that  of  Siva.  A  parallel  is  afforded  in  that  part  of  the 
Mexican  mythology  under  consideration.  Quetzalcoatl  was  a 
benevolent  being,  averse  to  cruelty,  and  to  any  other  sacred  of 
ferings  than  the  vegetable  productions  of  the  earth.  The  rites 
attending  the  worship  of  Tezcatlipoca  were  inhuman  and 
bloody,  and  a  further  proof  of  his  attributes  is  afforded  in  his 
intimate  connection  with  Mexitli,  the  Mexican  god  of  war, 
to  whom  were  offered  more  human  victims  than  to  any  other  of 
the  gods :  indeed  the  great  Teocalli  of  Mexico  was  dedicated 
to  Tezcatlipoca  and  Mexitli  in  conjunction.  This  explains  the 


*  Asiatic  Res.,  vol.  viii.  p.  45,  46.     Mod.  Trav.  India,  vol.*viii.  p. 
305. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  385 

ceremony  usual  at  the  third  and  principal  festival  of  Mexitli. 
At  its  conclusion  his  statue,  formed  of  seeds  pasted  together  with 
the  blood  of  children,  was  carried  to  a  hall  in  the  temple,  where 
in  the  presence  only  of  a  few  persons  of  rank,  the  priest  called 
Quetzalcoatl  threw  a  dart  at  the  statue,  which  pierced  it,  and 
they  then  exclaimed,  the  god  was  dead.  The  opposition  be 
tween  the  two  deities  could  not  be  more  clearly  expressed ;  and 
this  ceremony  was  probably  commemorative  of  a  period  when 
the  mild  and  peaceful  triumphed  over  the  sanguinary  worship.  A 
subsequent  revolution  seems  to  have  occurred,  at  least  among 
the  Aztecs,  and  accordingly,  Tezcatlipoca,  the  Destroyer,  pro 
cures  by  a  stratagem  the  absence  of  the  benign  Quetzalcoatl. 
It  is  to  be  observed  that  in  Peru,  also,  the  human  sacrifices 
which  were  customary  in  the  first  ages,  were  forbidden  by  the 
Incas.  The  Muyscas  represented  Bochica  with  three  heads ;  Del 
Rio  found  in  the  corridor  of  a  building  at  Palenque  three 
crowned  human  heads  cut  in  stone,  connected  together  behind ; 
the  Triune  vessel  discovered  in  one  of  the  mounds  in  the  United 
States,  represents  three  human  heads  joined  together  in  the  same 
manner.  These  facts  tend  to  support  the  authority  of  those 
Spanish  historians,  so  flatly  contradicted  by  Vega  and  Bias 
Valera,  who  maintained  that  the  Peruvians  and  the  nations  of 
New  Spain  worshipped  a  Triune  deity.  They  may  be  consi 
dered  as  establishing  another  link  of  connection  with  Hindoostan, 
where  Brahma,  Vishnoo  and  Siva,  forming  what  is  called  the 
Trimurti,  or  the  three  powers,  the  Creative,  Preserving  and 
Destroying,  are  sometimes  represented  as  of  one  body  with 
three  heads. 

The  Mexican  Tlaloc  was   the  god  of  water,  and  it  has 

*  Del  Rio,  p.  56.  * 
49 


386  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

been  shown  that  this  element  was  considered  as  of  a  sacred 
character  by  the  Mexicans,  Peruvians,  and  the  ancient  inhabit 
ants  of  the  United  States.  Its  sanctity  in  India  is  well  known ; 
but  one  custom  recently  existing  is  remarkable  as  being  similar 
to  that  which  was  practised  by  the  Mexicans  and  Etrurians. 
It  consisted  in  the  sacrifice,  annually,  of  a  youth  and  maiden 
richly  dressed,  by  drowning  them  in  their  sacred  river.*  To 
the  lakes  of  Titicaca  and  Guativita  in  South  America,  it  was 
customary  for  the  natives  to  make  pilgrimages,  and  in  the  latter, 
offerings  of  great  value  were  thrown.  These  were  strictly  ana 
logous  to  the  Hindoo  pilgrimages  to  their  sacred  streams.  In 
the  Hindoo  temples  are  tanks  of  water,  surrounded  by  colon 
nades  and  steps,  whither  the  pilgrims  descended  to  employ 
themselves  in  ablutions  and  religious  contemplations.!  Tanks 
precisely  similar  may  be  observed  in  the  ruins  of  Zacatecas  in 
Mexico.  The  lotus,  which  it  has  been  remarked,  was  sacred  in 
Egypt  and  America,  was  also  a  religious  emblem  in  India,  Thibet 
and  China.J 

The  belief  in  the  transmigration  of  souls  was  common  to 
some  of  the  American  and  to  the  Hindoo  nations ;  animal  wor 
ship  was  probably  connected  with  it.  This  superstition  prevailed 
in  Peru,  before  the  time  of  the  Incas ;  and  its  existence  in  New 
Spain  is  proved  by  the  representations  in  the  sculptures  and 
paintings.  In  these  the  serpent  occupies  a  prominent  place, 
and  whatever  may  have  been  its  original  signification,  there  can 
be  no  doubt  of  the  prevalence  of  an  Ophite  worship.  The  Mex 
icans  erected  chapels  to  the  tiger,  the  eagle  and  the  serpent. 

*  Mod.  Trav.  India,  vol.  vii.  p.  59. 
t  Heeren's  Res.,  vol.  iii.  p.  81. 
J  Asiatic  tracts,  vol.  i.  p.  34. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  387 

In  1791,  a  tomb  containing  the  skeleton  of  a  wolf  was  discov 
ered  in  the  city  of  Mexico ;  the  bones  were  carefully  deposited 
in  a  stone  coffin,  together  with  clay  vases  and  metallic  vessels.* 
And  it  would  appear  that  other  sepulchres  have  been  opened, 
containing  the  skeletons  of  the  mammoth  or  of  some  other  large 
animal,  which  appeared  to  have  been  expressly  fitted  for  their 
reception.f  In  the  different  provinces  of  Peru,  and  also  at 
Cuzco  there  were  large  collections  of  animals,  the  different 
species  of  which  were  kept  separate,  and  which  were  attended 
to  with  the  greatest  care.J  In  the  ^ity  of  Mexico  were  two 
large  houses  appropriated  as  the  habitations  of  animals,  one  for 
those  who  did  not  live  by  prey,  and  the  other  for  birds  of  prey, 
quadrupeds,  and  reptiles.  It  is  common  to  find  in  India  hospi 
tals,  where  many  animals  of  various  kinds  are  collected.  In 
the  city  of  Surat  there  is  one  for  the  sick,  wounded,  and  maim 
ed  animals,  divided  into  parts  for  different  species,  which  are  all 
attended  with  the  greatest  care.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
Surat  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  cities  in  Hindoostan.  Ma- 
thura,  celebrated  as  the  birth-place  of  Krishna,  has  a  hospital  for 
monkeys. — The  city  of  Ahnedabad  formerly  contained  three 
several  hospitals;  there  is  another  at  Baruach,  containing  not 
only  sacred  animals,  but  cats,  dogs  and  horses.  The  Mongols 
appear  to  Jiave  had  similar  collections^ 

The  Mexicans,  Peruvians,  Chinese,  and  Hindoos,  all  pos 
sessed  a  taste  for  dramatic  entertainments ;  these  were  often  of 

*  Hum.  Res.,  vol.  ii.  p.  48. 

f  Clavigero,  vol.  i.  p.  84.     This  author  considers  them  to  be  the 
bones  of  giants. 

I  Vega,  vol.  i.  p.  235. 

§  Maundeville,  ch.  22.    Marco  Polo,  ch.'  56. 


388  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

a  poetical  cast,  though  sometimes  they  consisted  of  mere  buf 
foonery.  The  manners  and  customs  of  social  life  in  Hindoostan, 
Mexico  and  Peru,  partook  of  a  religious  character.  Nothing 
of  consequence  could  be  done  without  the  intervention  of  the 
priests.  They  were  present  at  births,  marriages,  and  funerals ; 
the  most  trifling  affairs  were  transacted  according  to  certain 
religious  forms,  and  the  national  mind  seems  to  have  been  com 
pletely  subjected  in  private,  as  well  as  in  public  matters,  to  the 
domination  of  the  sacred  orders.  The  monarchs  were  despots, 
religion  combined  with  power  to  render  their  sway  absolute, 
and  they  were  almost  worshipped  as  demi-gods.  In  Mexico 
and  Peru  the  Emperor  was  the  great  proprietor  of  the  soil,  and 
it  was  necessary  every  year  for  the  landholders  to  have  their 
titles  renewed  by  a  particular  form  of  investiture.  But  for  im 
portant  services,  an  exception  was  made,  and  allodial  estates, 
with  a  power  of  alienation,  were  granted.  The  general  rule 
and  particular  exception  just  noticed  prevailed  also  in  India. 
In  both  countries,  the  rents  and  taxes  were  received  in  kind, 
even  down  to  the  productions  of  the  artisans.* 

Among  many  American  tribes,  a  peculiar  method  of  regu 
lating  lineal  descent  existed.  It  consisted  in  tracing  the  line 
through  the  mother.  A  mode  precisely  similar  prevails  through 
the  whole  southern  part  of  Hindoostan.  Other  analogous  cus 
toms  may  be  traced  between  the  Americans  and  Hindoos ;  but 
a  coincidence  in  the  form  of  the  marriage  ceremonies  is  too 
singular  to  be  omitted. — The  matrimonial  contract  in  Mexicof 
chiefly  consisted  in  the  priest's  tying  a  point  of  the  gown  of  the 

*  Mill's  India,  vol.  i.  p.  261.     Clavig.,  vol.  i.  p.  348. 
f  Clavigero,  vol.  i.  p.  321. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  389 

bride,  with  the  mantle  of  the  bridegroom.  The  wife  then 
passed  several  times  around  a  /ire,  which  was  kindled,  and  sat 
down  on  a  mat  with  her  husband,  and  offered  copal  to  the  gods. 
The  married  pair  then  lived  austerely,  slept  on  mats,  and  re 
mained  the  three  succeeding  days  in  the  same  chamber.  In 
India  "  the  father  of  the  bride  ties  a  knot  with  the  skirts  of  the 
mantles  of  the  bridegroom  and  bride,  saying  '  ye  must  be  insep 
arably  united  in  matters  of  duty,  wealth,  and  love.' >:  This  and 
some  other  ceremonies  being  performed,  "  the  bride  goes  to  the 
western  side  of  the  fire,  and  recites  a  prayer  while  she  steps  on 
a  mat  made  of  virana  grass,  and  covered  with  silk.  She  then 
sits  down  on  the  edge  of  the  mat,  and  the  bridegroom  makes 
six  oblations  of  clarified  butter,  reciting  a  prayer  with  each." 
"  During  the  three  subsequent  days,  the  married  couple  must 
remain  in  the  house  of  the  father  of  the  bride,  and  must  live 
chastely  and  austerely,  sleeping  on  the  ground."* 

Within  the  mounds  of  the  United  States,  and  those  of  Peru, 
numerous  marine  shells  have  been  found  deposited  with  the 
dead ;  and  in  Mexico  there  was  a  "  temple  of  shells."  Several 
of  the  Murex,  discovered  in  an  ancient  work  near  Lexington, 
Kentucky,  are  of  the  same  species  as  is  sacred  to  the  Hindoo 
Neptune,  Mahadeva.  But  more  singular  still,  some  of  those 
disinterred  from  the  mounds  are  of  a  kind  unknown  on  the 
shores  of  this  continent ;  of  the  Pyrula  perversa,  none*  have 
been  found  here  except  those  of  a  very  inferior  size,  while  two 
very  large  ones  have  been  taken  from  the  ancient  remains. 
They  abound,  however,  in  Hindoostan,  where  they  are  used  in 
religious  ceremonies.  The  Cassis  Cornutus  of  the  Cincinnati 

*  Mill.  vol.  i.  p.  446. 


390  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

tumulus  is  an  Asiatic  shell  also.*  In  Chin-India,  the  Budd 
hists  also  employ  shells  for  religious  purposes  (particularly  the 
conch,  and  left-handed  shells),  and  upon  the  most  solemn  occa 
sions,  when  they  are  filled  with  holy  water.  In  India  the  shell 
is  sacred  to  the  Moon,  and  the  shell,  the  ring  and  the  lotus  are 
the  insignia  of  the  gods.f 

The  ancient  Hindoo  cities,  as  they  are  described  in  the  Gen- 
too  Code,  were  similar  in  form  to  some  of  the  ancient  enclo 
sures  of  the  United  States ;  and  they  wrere  surrounded  by  ditches 
or  earthen  embankments,  with  a  covered  way  proceeding  from 
one  of  the  sides.  One  of  the  methods  of  fortification,  is  identical 
in  character,  with  that  of  one  of  the  fortifications  in  Florida.  It 
consists  of  a  wide  ditch  around  the  town,  certain  intervals  be 
ing  left  unexcavated  as  causeways  or  entrances-! 

"  Let  not  the  piety  of  the  Catholic  Christian,"  says  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Maurice,  "  be  offended  at  the  preceding  assertion,  that  the 
cross  wras  one  of  the  most  usual  symbols  among  the  hieroglyphics 
of  Egypt  and  India.  Equally  honored  in  the  Gentile  and  Chris 
tian  world,  this  emblem  of  universal  nature,  of  that  world  to 
whose  four  quarters  its  diverging  radii  pointed,  decorated  the 
hands  of  most  of  the  sculptured  images  in  the  former  country, 
and  in  the  latter,  stamped  its  form  upon  the  most  majestic  of 
the  shrines  of  their  deities."§  The  early  Christian  fathers  were 
aware*  of  the  sanctity  of  this  emblem  among  pagan  nations,  and 
archaeological  researches  have  also  shown  most  clearly  its  anti- 

*  Delafield's  Inquiry,  p.  62.  Nuttall,  p.  22.  Crawfurd's  Siam, 
vol.  i.  p.  277. 

t  Asiatic  Tracts,  vol.  i.  p.  45. 

J  Gentoo  Code,  c.  14.    Mill's  India,  vol.  i.  p.  181.    Dubois,  p.  543. 

§  Maurice's  Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  ii.  p.  361. 


HISTORY   OF  THE  RED  RACE.  391 

quity  and  sacred  character.  It  not  only  appears  upon  many 
of  the  ancient  Celtic  monuments  of  the  British  Isles,  but  some 
of  the  Celtic  or  Druidical  temples  were  built  in  this  form.  This 
is  the  case  with  the  great  temple  at  Classerniss,  in  one  of  the 
islands  of  the  Hebrides,  and  with  the  gallery  and  cemetery  be 
neath  the  mound  at  New  Grange  in  Ireland.* 

In  Italy  the  staff  of  the  Roman  Augurs  was  surmounted  by 
a  cross,  and  the  cross  appears  upon  one  of  the  bas  reliefs  at 
Pompeii  in  connection  wLh  ancient  symbols,  and  the  figures  of 
heathen  gods.  Venus  is  represented  by  a  crossf  and  circle,  and 
Saturn,  with  a  cross  and  horn.  A  silver  rnedal  found  at  Citium, 
in  Cyprus,  which  appears  to  have  been  older  than  the  foundation 
of  the  Macedonian  empire,  exhibits  on  one  side,  within  an  in 
dented  square,  a  rosary  or  circle  of  beads  to  which  a  cross  is 
attached.J  "  Of  these  rosaries,  and  this  appendage,  as  symbols 
(explained  by  converted  heathens  at  the  destruction  of  the  temple 
of  Serapis"),  says  Dr.  Clarke,  "  having  in  a  former  publication 
been  explicit,  it  is  not  now  necessary  to  expatiate.  That  the 
soul's  immortality  was  alluded  to,  is  a  fact  capable  of  the 
strictest  demonstration."  In  Egypt,  the  crosier  of  Osiris  is  sur 
mounted  by  the  cross,  or  the  sacred  tau,  and  the  Crux  ansata  is 
a  common  symbol  in  the  hands  of  sacred  figures.  Some  of  the 

*  O'Brien  on  the  round  towers  of  Ireland,  passim.  Biggins' 
Celtic  Druids,  p.  57,  and  authorities  there  quoted.  Davies'  Celtic 
Researches,  p.  143. 

t  Landseer,  p.  360. 

I  Clarke's  Travels,  vol.  ii.  p.  180.  Pococke,  vol.  ii.  p.  213.  At 
the  destruction  of  the  temple  of  Serapis,  at  Alexandria,  alluded  to  by 
Dr.  Clarke,  the  same  symbols  were  discovered  beneath  the  founda 
tion. 


392  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE   ORIGIN  AND 

human  figures  painted  upon  the  walls  of  one  of  the  tombs  at 
Thebes,  opened  by  Belzoni,  are  tattooed  on  their  thighs  and  arms 
with  the  form  of  the  cross.*  And  that  the  first  Christians  were 
aware  of  the  sanctity  of  this  emblem  with  the  Egyptians,  appears 
from  one  of  the  excavations  near  Edfou,  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Nile.  The  figure  of  the  cross  is  there  seen  painted  on  a  wall  with 
the  inscription  over  it, — "  The  Cross  of  the  Christians."  Sir  Ar 
chibald  Edmonstone,  who  observed  it  also  in  some  buildings  of 
unburnt  brick  in  the  Thebaic  Oasis,  remarks,  "  In  all  we  entered, 
there  is  the  Greek  cross,  and  the  celebrated  Egyptian  hiero 
glyphic,  the  Crux  ansata,  which,  originally  signifying  life, 
would  appear  to  have  been  adopted  as  a  Christian  emblem, 
either  from  its  similarity  to  the  shape  of  the  cross,  or  from  its 
being  considered  as  the  symbol  of  a  state  of  future  existence."! 
Mr.  Richardson,  speaking  of  the  handled  cross  of  Osiris,  ob 
serves  :  "  I  am  disposed  to  consider  it  as  the  Sigma  Thau  men 
tioned  in  the  Vulgate,  in  the  ninth  chapter  of  Ezekiel,  and  re 
presented  there  as  being  the  sign  of  life  and  salvation  to  those 
who  received  it." 

In  Hindoostan  and  those  parts  of  Asia,  whose  religious  sys 
tems  have  been  thence  derived,  the  cross  is  of  high  antiquity 
and  of  a  sacred  character.  One  of  the  principal  caves  of  Ele- 
phanta  is  excavated  precisely  upon  this  plan ;  it  is  also  recog 
nised  over  the  heads  of  some  of  the  sculptures  within ;  and  the 
pagodas  of  Benares  and  Mathura  are  built  after  the  same  form.| 
The  Hindoos  frequently  wear  the  cross  appended  to  a  rosary, 
and  the  rosaries  are  doubtless  of  very  ancient  use  in  Oriental 

*  Richardson,  vol.  ii.  p.  75.     f  Edmonstone's  Journey,  p.  109. 
J  Maurice's  Ind.  Antiq.,  vol.  ii.  p.  361.    Mod.  Trav.  India,  vol. 
viii.  p.  267. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  393 

Asia.  Brahma  is  often  represented  as  holding  one  in  his  hands; 
the  devotions  of  the  ascetics  are  still  made,  by  telling  their 
beads ;  and  the  rosary  is  to  be  observed  even  in  Thibet  and 
China.*  The  same  symbol  is  recognised  as  sacred  by  the  Mon 
gols  :  "It  is  remarkable  that  the  high  priest  of  the  Tartars 
bears  the  name  of  Lama,  which  in  the  Tartar  language,  sig 
nifies  the  cross,  and  the  Tartars  of  Bogdo,  who  conquered  China 
in  1644,  and  who  are  subject  to  the  Delae-Lama  in  all  matters 
of  religion,  carry  with  them  crosses,  which  they  also  call  La 
mas."!  It  appears  also  to  have  been  known  in  some  of  the 
islands  of  the  Pacific,  for  the  inhabitants  of  the  Gambier  islands 
tattooed  themselves  with  the  figure  of  the  cross ;  and  when  Lord 
Mulgrave's  island  was  discovered,  the  natives  wore  necklaces 
with  crosses  suspended-^  Upon  the  breast  of  a  skeleton  disin 
terred  from  one  of  the  ancient  mounds  in  the  United  States, 
were  found  a  copper  cross  and  necklace  of  beads.  Cordova 
and  Grijalva  in  their  first  voyages  to  Yucatan,  observed  large 
crosses  of  stone  and  wood,  some  of  them  painte'd,  which  were 
worshipped  by  the  Indians.  The  Itzaexes,  a  Yucantanese  na 
tion,  had  a  most  singular  method  of  punishment.  They  enclosed 
the  victim  in  a  metallic  cross,  which  was  heated  until  he  had 
expired.^  Upon  examining  the  monuments,  we  find  that  the 
subterranean  apartments  of  the  temple,  or  palace  of  Mitlan, 
are  cruciform,  like  the  cave  at  Elephanta.  The  cross  appears 
in  the  sculptures  at  Uxmal,  and  one  of  the  human  figures  is 
evidently  telling  his  beads.  The  windows  at  Palenque  are 

*  Ward,  pp.  40,  45,  422,  427. 

f  Voyage  de  la  Chine,  par  Avril,  p.  194,  in  Higgins,  p.  312. 
J  Mavor,  vol.  ix.  p.  159.     Beechey's  Nar.,  p.  126. 
§  Waldeck,  p.  24.     See  Herod.,  4,  42,  43. 

50 


394  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE   ORIGIN   AND 

in  the  same  shape ;  it  appears  frequently  in  the  paintings  at 
that  place,  and  one  of  the  most  remarkable  religious  repre 
sentations  on  its  walls  is  a  large  and  richly  ornamented  cross, 
placed  upon  a  pedestal,  and  surmounted  by  a  sacred  bird,  before 
which  priests  are  making  their  adorations.  "  The  crosses  the 
most  celebrated,"  says  Clavigero,  "  are  those  of  Yucatan,  of 
Mizteca,  Queretaro,  Tepique,  and  Tianquiztepec."  These 
curious  relics  did  not  escape  the  attention  of  the  Spanish  mission 
aries,  but  they  ascribed  them  to  St.  Thomas.  That  they  were 
not  of  recent  introduction  appears  from  their  connection  with 
the  oldest  religious  fables.  The  garments  of  Quetzalcoatl  were 
covered  with  red  crosses,  and  the  Yucatanese  worshipped  the 
cross  in  obedience  to  the  commands  of  their  great  prophet  Chi- 
lam-Cambal.*  The  sign  of  the  cross  had  been  for  many  ages 
venerated  by  the  Peruvians.  A  cross  was  placed  on  the  sum 
mit  of  the  Temple  of  the  Sun  at  Cuzco,  and  within  a  sacred 
mansion  in  the  same  city  there  was  one  composed  of  fine  mar 
ble.  Although  it  was  not  worshipped,  says  Vega,  it  was  still  held 
in  great  veneration-!  The  Patagonians  tattoo  their  foreheads 
with  the  figure  of  the  cross,  and  it  has  been  thought  by  recent 
travellers  that  the  employment  of  this  particular  form  was  de 
rived  from  the  Spaniards,!  but  this  conjecture  is  erroneous.  One 
of  the  best  of  authorities,  Martin  Dobrizhoffer,  says, "  what  these 
signify  and  what  they  portend  I  cannot  tell,  and  the  Abipones 
themselves  are  no  better  informed  on  the  subject.  They  only 
know  that  this  custom  was  handed  down  to  them  Jrom  their 
ancestors,  and  that  is  sufficient."  He  adds,  "  I  saw  not  only  a 

*  Clavigero,  vol.  i.  p.  250. 

t  Vega,  vol.  i.  p.  63 ;  vol.  ii.  pp.  467,  468. 

t  King  and  Fitzroy,  vol.  i.  p.  90. 


HISTORr  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  395 

cross  marked  on  the  foreheads  of  all  the  Abipones,  but  likewise 
black  crosses  woven  in  the  red  woollen  garments  of  many.  It 
is  a  very  surprising  circumstance  that  they  did  this  before  they 
were  acquainted  with  the  religion  of  Christ,  when  the  significa 
tion  and  merits  of  the  cross  were  unknown  to  them."*  Thus 
it  appears  that  the  ancient  use  of  this  sacred  symbol  may  be 
traced  from  India,  on  the  one  hand  into  Egypt  and  the  Druidi- 
cal  countries,  and  on  the  other  into  America,  and  in  every  case 
it  seems  to  have  possessed  a  religious  signification  or  character. 
At  Barkal  in  Egypt  there  is  the  figure  of  a  foot  sculptured 
in  black  granite.  Herodotus  in  his  description  of  Scythia  speaks 
of  "  an  impression  which  they  show  of  the  foot  of  Hercules  (the 
Sun).  This  is  upon  a  rock,"  he  says,  "  two  cubits  in  size,  but 
resembling  the  footstep  of  a  man ;  it  is  near  the  river  Tyras."f 
Upon  the  summit  of  Adam's  Peak,  in  the  island  of  Ceylon,  is 
the  impression  of  a  foot,  said  to  be  that  of  Buddha  when  he 
first  landed  on  the  island ;  this  is  held  in  the  highest  veneration 
by  the  natives.  At  many  places  in  Ava  are  impressions  of 
Gaudma's  or  Buddha's  foot  upon  flat  rocks,  which  are  believed 
to  have  been  made  by  that  god,  at  his  descent  upon  the  earth.J 
The  Siamese  are  accustomed  to  make  pilgrimages  to  those 
sacred  places  where  the  alleged  footmarks  of  Gaudma  (Prah- 
bat — "  the  holy  foot")  are  found.§  The  votaries  of  Rama  in 
India  impress  upon  different  parts  of  their  body  the  figure  of 
Rama's  foot  ;||  and  in  the  Puranas,  Sravanna  is  described  as 
"  on  the  white  mountains  meditating  upon  the  traces  of  the 


*  Dobrizhoffer,  vol.  ii.  p.  20.  |  Melpomene,  c.  82. 

J  Symmes'  Embassy,  p.  240.  §  Crawfurd's  Siam,  p.  79. 

||  Mod.  Trav.  India,  vol.  vii.  p.  317.    , 


396  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE   ORIGIN  AND 

divine  feet."  It  will  be  remembered  that  one  of  the  signs  of 
the  Hindoo  lunar  zodiac,  the  Nacshatras,  or  Houses  of  the 
Moon,  is  termed  the  Sravanna,  and  represents  the  three  prints 
of  the  feet  of  Vishnoo.*  Buddha  was  one  of  the  incarnations 
of  Vishnoo,  and  Vishnoo  was  identical  with  the  Sun.  But  the 
zodiacal  sign  Sravanna  is  the  same  as  the  Mexican  sign  Olin 
Tonatiuh,  or  motion  of  the  Sun,  which  was  also  denoted  by  the 
prints  of  three  feet :  thus  the  coincidence  between  the  Hindoo 
and  Mexican  signs  is  complete.  But  this  ancient  myth  was  of 
still  wider  prevalence  in  America.  Payzome,  the  Buddha  of 
Brazil,  when  he  departed  left  his  footsteps  imprinted  upon  the 
shore ;  in  Chile  we  find  the  figures  of  human  feet  engraven  upon 
the  rocks;  at  St.  Louis  in  the  United  States  was  a  tabular  mass 
of  limestone  with  the  same  impressions  ;  they  have  been  re 
cently  discovered  at  Zacatecas  in  Mexico  among  the  ancient 
ruins,  and  Clavigero  says  they  have  been  frequently  observed 
throughout  that  country .f 

In  conclusion,  the  Mexicans,  Peruvians,  and  Hindoos,  of 
fered  sacred  cakes  of  flour  to  their  deities ;  the  feats  of  Mexican 
jugglery  were  equally  surprising  as  those  still  practised  in 
India  ;  masks  were  worn  by  the  priests  in  Egypt,  America,  and 
India,  in  their  religious  ceremonies ;  the  mask  or  figure  of  the 
Sun  on  the  monuments  and  paintings  of  New  Spain,  is  almost 
identical  in  appearance  with  the  Hindoo  Kala,  time,  "  who 
swallows  the  world,  opening  a  fiery  mouth,  exhibiting  a  row  of 
dreadful  teeth,  and  protruding  an  enormous  tongue  ;"  the  posi 
tion  and  figures  of  the  American  idols,  are  often  similar  to  those 

*  Vide  page  324. 

t  The  Spaniards  ascribed  these  to  St.  Thomas. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  397 

of  the  Hindoos ;  and  the  Hindoo  artificial  lakes  approached  by 
avenues  of  trees  resemble  those  the  remains  of  which  have  been 
observed  here.  The  custom  of  shaving  the  head  with  the  ex 
ception  of  a  single  lock ;  that  of  tattooing,  which  has  not  yet 
been  wholly  abandoned  in  India ;  the  appearance  of  hierogly 
phic  and  emblematic  sculptures  and  paintings  in  the  Hindoo 
temples  and  caves ;  the  stone  benches  or  couches  in  the  dormi 
tories  of  the  temples ;  the  conical  caps  of  the  figures  on  the 
walls  of  Elephanta;  the  frequent  position  of  the  Hindoo  tem 
ples  upon  elevated  terraces ;  some  traces  of  the  institution  of 
castes  in  America ;  and  the  general  resemblance  of  their  reli 
gious  belief,  ceremonies,  superstitions  and  traditions,  present 
many  decided  analogies,  which  despite  numerous  points  of  differ 
ence  in  other  respects,  tend  to  indicate  the  ancient  connection 
of  the  American  nations  with  South-Eastern  Asia.* 

The  Mongols.  Siberian  Asia  is  occupied  by  two  great  races, 
the  Tartars  and  Mongols ;  the  principal  territory  of  the  Mongols 
lies  to  the  north,  and  that  of  the  Tartars  to  the  south  of  the  Sir 


*  Waldeck,  p.  19.    Heeren,  vol.  iii.  p.  81.    Mod.  Trav.  India, 
vol.  viii.  pp.  267,  364,  175.     Carli,  Lettres  sur  LMmerique,  lett.  13. 

One  of  the  Hindoo  traditions  resembles  that  in  which  Bochica 
figures,  among  the  Muyscas.  According  to  the  Hindoo  tradition, 
the  valley  of  Cashmere  was  formerly  a  large  lake.  Casyapa,  a  grand 
son  of  Brahma,  drained  its  waters  by  opening  a  passage  through  the 
mountains  near  Baramauleh,  through  which  the  waters  escaped.  He 
then  peopled  the  restored  territory  with  the  assistance  of  the  gods. 
See  Asiatic  Res.,  vol.  vi.  p.  455.  "  The  Piragua  now  used  at  Chiloe, 
and  by  the  savages  of  the  Chonos  Archipelago,  exactly  resem 
bles,  in  every  minute  detail,  the  Maseulah  boat  of  Madras."— 
King  and  Filzroy,  note,  vol.  ii.  p.  648. 


398  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

or  Sihon.*  Though  at  present  composed  mostly  of  nomadic 
and  barbarous  tribes,  the  Mongols  seem  to  have  been  in 
ancient  times  far  more  civilized ;  and  nations  of  the  same  family 
now  occupy  the  vast  region  extending  along  the  ocean  from 
India  to  the  highest  northern  latitudes.  The  ancient  Scythians 
appear  to  have  been  a  branch  of  the  same  race.  There  are 
yet  to  be  found  in  Siberia  indications  that  these  rude  tribes 
were  formerly  more  cultivated  than  at  present.  It  is  said  that 
the  Tartar  and  Mongol  writings  extant  are  of  a  date  long  sub 
sequent  to  the  time  of  Mohammed,  and  that  none  of  these 
nations  had  formerly  any  written  memorials.f  Be  this  as  it 
may,  in  many  parts  of  Siberia  there  are  characters  and  figures 
engraven  or  painted  upon  stones  and  rocks,  some  of  which  ap 
pear  to  be  in  the  nature  of  letters,  and  others  hieroglyphical 
emblems,  and  the  figures  of  animals ;  they  are  usually  painted 
red.  Some  of  these  remind  us  of  the  ancient  inscriptions  in 
America,  for  they  are  cut  upon  the  face  of  perpendicular  rocks 
on  the  banks  of  rivers,*  at  great  heights  which  appear  inaccessi 
ble.  Others  according  to  Kircher,  as  referred  to  by  Strahlen- 
burgh,  resemble  the  ancient  Chinese  characters.  The  same 
author  describes  ancient  idols  and  obelisks,  cut  out  of  large 
blocks  of  stone,  frtun  seven  to  nine  feet  high,  wiih  hieroglyphic 
figures  sculptured  on  their  backs.  His  description  of  the  tumuli 
should  be  quoted  in  his  own  words.  "Vast  numbers  are  found 
in  Siberia,  and  in  the  deserts  which  border  on  that  government 

*  Heeren's  Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  11.  Bell's  Journey,  p.  464.  Tooke's 
View,  vol.  ii.  p.  35. 

|  Asiatic  Tracts,  vol.  i.  pp.  149,  155.  The  Mongolian  manuscripts 
are  written  on  a  thick  paper,  covered  with  a  colored  varnish.  They 
are  found  in  the  tombs  arid  temples. 


HISTORY   OF  THE  RED  RACE.  399 

southwards.    In  these  tombs  are  found  all  sorts  of  vessels,  urns, 
wearing-apparel,  ornaments  and   trinkets,  cimeters,*  daggers, 
horse-trappings,  knives,  all  sorts  of  little  idols,  medals  of  gold 
and  silver,  chess-boards  and  chess-men  of  gold,  as  also  .large 
golden  plates,  on  which  the  dead  bodies  have  been  laid.*    The 
graves  of  the  poorer  class  have  likewise  such  things  in  them,  of 
copper  and  brass,  arrows  of  copper  and  iron,  stirrups,  large  and 
small  polished  plates  of  metal,  or  mirrors,  with  characters  upon 
them;  earthen  urns  of  different  sizes,  some  almost  two  feet 
high,  others  more,  some  with  and  some  without  handles.     *     * 
*     As  to  the  graves  themselves,  they  are  of  different  structures, 
some  are  only  raised  up  of  earth,  as  high  as  houses,  and  placed 
so  near  together  and  in  such  numbers  on  the  spacious  plains, 
that  at  a  distance  they  appear  like  a  ridge  of  hills.     Others  are 
set  round  with  rough  hewn  stones,  and  some  with  square  free 
stones,  and  are  either  of  an  oblong  or  a  triangular  form.     In 
some  places  these  tombs  are  entirely  built  of  stone.     Hence  we 
find  in  the  ancient  maps  of  Tartary  the  greater,  a  number  of 
pyramids,  with  these  words,  in  Latin,  the  pyramidal  sepulchres 
of  the  Tartarian  kings,  by  which  they  must  needs  mean  their 
monuments,  though  they  are  not  so  properly  pyramids."   Traces 
also  of  mural  remains  similar  to  those  of  the  United  States  exist 
in  some  parts  of  this  region.f 

Shamanism,  the  religion  of  the  Mongols,  is  based  on  the 
same  idea  as,  and  is  similar  in  its  developments  to,  those  ancient 


*  The  mines  of  silver  and  gold  were  worked  by  the  ancient  in 
habitants. 

f  Strahlenburgh,  pp.  364,  324,  429,  et  seq.  Hist.  Kamtschatka,  p. 
16.  Malte  Bran,  book  38. 


400  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

cults  which  have  been  considered.  The  existence  of  the  Su 
preme  Being  is  recognised  by  some  of  the  Siberian  tribes,  and 
the  Yakuts  "  worship  the  invisible  God  "  under  three  different 
names,  which  are  called  Samans,  sacred.*  Traces  of  the  Hin 
doo  Trimurti  are  also  discernible  in  one  of  the  Calmuck  idols 
which  is  figured  with  'three  heads.  The  worship  of  the  hea 
venly  bodiesf  and  of  firej  is  also  prevalent,  and  particularly 
among  the  Tongoos,  or  Tungusi.  The  belief  in  the  transmi 
gration  of  souls,  the  veneration  for  animals,  polytheism,  and 
magical  practices  are  all  prominent  features  of  Shamanism. 
Its  leading  and  characteristic  trait,  however,  consists  in  the  class 
of  priests,  who  are  sorcerers  pretending  to  a  communion  with 
evil  spirits,  and  of  whom  it  may  be  most  emphatically  said,  that 
they  are  precisely  identical  with  the  conjurors  or  jugglers  of  the 
American  aborigines. § 

The  Nomadic  tribes  of  Siberia,  like  most  of  the  barbarous 
Indian  tribes,  are  probably  the  descendants  of  more  civilized  an 
cestors,  and  it  is  curious  to  perceive  how,  under  the  operation 


*  One  of  the  titles  of  this  deity,  Tanga-ra,  resembles  that  by 
which  the  triune  god,  said  to  have  been  worshipped  in  Peru,  was 
known,  Tanga-Tanga. —  Vega,  vol.  i.  p.  70. 

t  Sauer's  Expedition,  vol.  i.  p.  116. 

J  The  Scythians  worshipped  fire. — Herod.,  1.  iv.  c.  59. 

§  Herodotus.  1.  iv.  c.  69,  mentions  the  art  of  divination  as  prevail 
ing  among  the  Scythians.  The  Shamans  are  also  prophets  and 
physicians,  and  cure  diseases  by  supernatural  means.  The  prepara 
tory  ceremonies  for  obtaining  an  interview  with  the  evil  spirits,  and 
their  feats  of  jugglery,  are  the  same  as  those  of  the  Indian  sorcerers. 
They  carry  with  them  little  images  or  amulets,  which  represent  the 
forms  in  which  these  deities  appear. 


HISTORY   OF  THE  RED  RACE.  401 

of  similar  circumstances,  these  two  degraded  branches  of  the 
same  great  race  have  still  preserved  a  striking  resemblance  in 
their  customs  and  character.  Of  those  Siberian  tribes  engaged 
rW  venatorial  pursuits,  it  may  be  asserted,  that  by  the  common 
consent  of  travellers,  no  people  exists  more  alike  in  every  re 
spect  to  the  aborigines.  For  the  purpose  of  a  brief  compari 
son,  one  tribe  may  be  selected. 

The  Tungusi,*  a  very  ancient  nation,  who  say  their  ances 
tors  were  the  first  inhabitants  of  Siberia,  roam  over  the  greater 
part  of  that  region.  Like  the  Indians,  they  are  subject  to  few 
diseases,  and  possess  the  senses  of  sight  and  hearing  to  an  incred 
ible  degree  of  perfection.!  They  are  faithful,  honest,  and  hospita 
ble,  mindful  of  kindness  and  injuries,  proud,  and  tenacious  of  their 
personal  dignity.  Dances  are  customary  among  them,  and  the 
most  favorite  of  their  social  pleasures  are  songs,  and  fanciful 
tales  of  an  Oriental  character,  resembling  those  of  the  Algon 
quin  nations.  Remarkable  for  the  faculty  of  remembering  nat 
ural  objects,  and  localities,  they  retain,  with  the  most  accurate 
fidelity,  the  recollection  of  every  rock  and  tree  in  their  hunting 
grounds,  can  describe  a  road  distinctly  by  these  landmarks,  and 
trace  their  way  hundreds  of  miles  over  a  pathless  country  with 
out  hesitation.  They  are  brave  and  robust,  hunt  with  the  bow 
and  arrow,  are  excellent  archers,  and  follow  the  game  by  the 
trail,  or  impression  left  on  the  earth,  as  well  as  if  the  animal 
were  bounding  in  full  view.  The  women  perform  the  chief 
burden  of  domestic  and  predial  labor,  while  the  ruder  sex  en 
gage  in  the  hardships  of  the  chase.  Enduring  of  cold,  fatigue, 
and  privations,  many  days  are  frequently  passed  by  them  with- 

*  Strahlenburgh,  p.  451.     Tooke,  vol.  ii.  p.  99. 
t  Cochrane,  pp.  140,  166. 

51 


402  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

out  food,  and  when  fortunately  game  has  been  killed,  they  feast 
in  an  extravagant,  wasteful,  and  voracious  manner,  without 
thought  of  the  future,*  and  never  leaving  the  spot  till  all  is 
consumed.  Polygamy  is  allowed,  and  wives  are  purchased  }ff 
presents  to  the  parents.  They  clear  the  soil  for  the  reception 
of  grain,  by  girdling  the  trees,  and  annually,  in  the  autumn, 
burn  the  grass  upon  the  steppes  or  prairies.f  The  boundaries 
of  their  hunting  grounds  are  marked  out,  and  any  aggressions 
beyond  them  resented  by  force.  The  dead  are  not  buried,  but 
suspended  from  trees  in  boxes,  or  placed  upon  scaffolds.  J  Their 
bodies  are  tattooed  with  much  taste  and  skill, — the  moccasin 
and  wampum  are  used  in  their  dress, — the  latter  being  employed 
for  decoration,  as  is  often  the  case  among  the  Indians.  §  They 
are  fond  of  smoking,  and  whilst  so  employed,  pass  the  pipe 
around  like  the  American  calumet.  In  all  these  particulars, 
resembling  closely  the  Indian,  it  is  impossible  to  point  out  any 
nation,  so  exactly  the  counterpart  of  the  Americans. 

A  few  analogous  customs  may  also  be  indicated.  The 
Indian  custom  of  shaving  the  head,  with  the  exception  of  a 
single  ringlet  upon  the  crown,  is  of  very  general  use  among  the 
Mongols.  It  is  probably  as  ancient  as  the  time  of  Herodotus, 
who  describes  it  accurately,  as  it  was  practised  by  the  royal 
Scythians.  The  same  historian-  details  the  often  quoted  descrip 
tion  of  Scythian  scalping  in  these  words :  "  Their  mode  of  strip 
ping  the  skin  from  the  head  is  this.  They  make  a  circular  in 
cision  behind  the  ears,  then  taking  hold  of  the  head  at  the  top, 

*  Cochrane,  p.  155. 

t  Spark's  Life  of  Ledyard,  p.  238. 

J  Sauer,  p.  49. 

§  Loskiel,  pp.  48,  49.    Ledyard,  pp.  246, 251. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  403 

they  gradually  flay  it, 'drawing  it  towards  them.  They  next 
soften  it  in  their  hands,  removing  every  fleshy  part  which  may 
remain,  by  rubbing  it  with  an  ox's  hide;  they  afterwards  sus-' 
pend  it  thus  prepared  from  the  bridles  of  their  horses,  when 
they  both  use  it  as  a  napkin,  and  are  proud  of  -it  as  a  trophy. 
Whoever  possesses  the  greater  number  of  these,  is  deemed  the 
most  illustrious."*  A  little  image  found  among  the  Calmucks, 
establishes  the  fidelity  of  this  description :  it  represents  a  man 
mounted  on  a  horse,  and  sitting  upon  a  human  skin,  with  scalps 
pendant  from  his  breast.f  The  same  author  states  that  upon 
the  interment  of  a  Scythian  chief  many  of  his  retainers  were 
slaughtered  at  his  tomb,  which  was  the  case  also  with  the 
Natchez  and  other  American  nations,  and  with  the  Mongols.! 
The  Siberian  and  Chinese  dog  is  of  the  same  species  as  the 
American;  in  America  the  dog  was  domesticated  even  with 
the  remote  Fuegian  tribes.  An  analogy  has  been  indicated  be 
tween  the  ideas  of  the  Egyptians  as  emblemized  in  the  figure 
of  Anubis,  and  those  of  the  Mexicans  in  relation  to  the  techichi; 
but  the  same  superstitions  were  of  much  wider  extent.  Dogs 
were  venerated  in  Egypt,  and  their  death  was  lamented  as  a 
misfortune.  According  to  Bryant,  the  Egyptians  represented 
under  the  figure  of  a  dog  all  such  as  had  the  management  of 
funerals.  Traces  of  the  same  idea,  says  Dr.  Clarke,  appear  in 
the  stele  upon  some  of  the  ancient  tumuli,  which  were  sculptured 
with  the  figure  of  this  animal,  as  a  type  of  the  Egyptian  god 
who  had  the  care  of  the  dead.  The  dog  was  anciently  held  in 
great  reverence  by  the  Hindoos,  and  was  sacred  to  Kala-Bha- 
irava;  the  practice  still  prevails  of  employing  this  animal  to 

*  Lib.  iv.  c.  64.  f  Pennant,  vol.  i.  p.  260. 

t  Barrow,  p.  483.     Strahlenburgh,  p.  30. 


404  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

watch  by  the  dead,  from  the  belief  that  he  perceives  evil  spirits, 
and  terrifies  them  by  his  howling ;  for  the  same  reason  he  is 
placed  by  the  couch  of  the  dying.  With  the  Siberian  and 
American  tribes  he  was  selected  for  a  similar  purpose,  and  was 
sacrificed  also-  in  cases  of  sickness  and  death.  Besides  the 
Mexicans,  many  other  aboriginal  nations  were  accustomed  to 
kill  these  animals  at  the  celebration  of  the  funeral  rites ;  this 
may  be  observed  even  of  the  distant  tribes  of  South  America.* 
The  Indians,  says  Mr.  Andrews,  are  generally  accompanied  by 
a  black  dog ;  this  animal  "  is  his  master's  friend  through  life, 
and  the  destined  pilot  of  his  voyage  to  the  promised  Elysium 
hereafter.  To  arrive  at  this  happy  land  rivers  are  to  be  crossed, 
and  the  dog  is  to  convey  over  his  master's  provisions,  a  store  of 
which  is  always  inhumed  upon  his  decease."!  '  The  Indians  of 
Canada,  according  to  Charlevoix,  during  the  last  sickness  of  a 
chief,  were  accustomed  to  "  cut  the  throats  of  all  the  dogs  they 
can  catch,  that  the  souls  of  these  animals  may  go  into  the  other 
world,  and  give  notice  that  such  a  person  will  arrive  there 
soon."| 

The  Siberians  and  Americans  are  both  extravagantly  ad 
dicted  to  the  use  of  the  vapor  bath.§  In  health  it  is  a  favorite 
enjoyment,  and  in  sickness  a  usual  remedy  for  all  diseases. 
The  Mongols,  like  the  Indian,  never  hesitate  whilst  suffused  with 

*  King  and  Fitzroy,  vol.  ii.  p.  167.  Davis'  China,  vol.  ii.  p,  310. 
Tooke,  vol.  iii.  p.  223.  Sauer.  Nuttall's  Arkansas,  p.  96.  Mod.  Trav. 
India,  vol.  viii.  p.  253.  Penn,  p.  120.  Ward,  vol.  i.  p.  264.  Wilkin 
son,  vol.  ii.  p.  33.  Herod.,  1.  ii.  c.  66.  Clarke's  Travels,  vol.  iii.  p. 
131. 

t  Anderson's  Travels  in  S.  Am.,  vol.  ii.  p.  75. 

I  Voyage,  vol.  ii.  p.  141.  §  Sauer,  p.  177.     Make  Bmn. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  405 

perspiration  to  rush  from  these  baths  and  plunge  headlong  into 
the  coldest  streams.  They  were  employed  also  by  the  Mexi 
cans,  and  the  same  method  of  producing  the  vapor  by  throwing 
water  upon  heated  stones  was  universally  practised.*  A  few 
additional  particulars  may  be  mentioned  :  the  Yourte  or  Mon 
gol  hut  resembles  the  American  wigwam  ;f  the  constellation  of 
the  Great  Bear  is  known  by  the  same  name  with  the  Indians 
and  the  Siberians ; J  they  agree  in  calling  the  Aurora  Borealis, 
"  the  dance  of  the  dead,"  or  "  dancing  spirits ;"  in  using  masks 
in  religious  ceremonies ;§  and  in  the  methods  of  interment,  either 
placing  the  dead  upon  scaffolds  like  some  of  the  western 
aborigines,  or  burying  them  in  a  sitting  posture,  or  burning 
them.  The  peculiar  form  of  the  plumes  of  the  head-dresses, 
the  use  of  leggins,  and  the  employment  of  the  wampum  as  an 
ornament  for  their  garments,  assimilate  the  costumes  of  both 
people.||  White  is  a  sacred  color;  the  same  method  of  storing 
corn  in  magazines  in  the  ground  is  used ;  there  are  some  traces 
of  the  institution  of  the  totem  in  Siberia ;  for  the  purpose  of 
procuring  fire,  they  sometimes  use  an  instrument  consisting  of 
a  cylindrical  piece  of  wood  which  is  inserted  in  the  hole  of  a 
circular  disk  and  rapidly  turned ;  this  is  to  be  found  also  in 


*  Herodotus  describes  a  similar  bath  in  use  among  the  Scythians, 
1.  iv.  c.  75. 

f  Ledyard,  241.     Sauer,  130. 

J  The  bear  is  venerated  by  both  races ;  and  after  having  killed 
one  in  the  chase,  it  is  usual  to  celebrate  the  event  by  an  expiatory 
feast,  during  which  songs  are  addressed  to  his  manes,  descriptive  of 
his  praises.  Malte  Brun.  Charlevoix,  vol.  ii.  p.  56. 

§  Pennant,  vol.  i.  p.  238.     Bartram's  Travels,  p.  43. 

||  Trans.  Lit.  and  Phil.  Soc.  Quebec,  vol.  i.  p.  240. 


406  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

America,  and  even  so  far  south  as  Chile.*  And  finally  both 
people  practise  the  custom  of  tattooing.f 

The  Chinese.  So  many  of  these  traits  and  customs  are 
common  to  the  Chinese  and  Indo-Chinese,  that  it  becomes  un 
necessary  to  dwell  at  length  upon  the  resemblance  to  be  ob 
served  between  those  nations  and  the  Americans.  The  Brah 
mins  maintain  that  the  Chinese  are  a  mixed  race,  and  that  at 
some  ancient  period,  an  emigration  proceeded  into  that  coun 
try  from  Hindoostan ;  it  seems,  therefore,  that  they  are  to  be 
regarded  as  the  descendants  of  Hindoos  and  Mongols — one  of 
the  circumstances  which  may  serve  to  account  for  the  striking 
resemblance  in  the  features  of  their  religion,  and  many  of  their 
institutions,  to  those  of  the  Hindoos  and  Mongols.J 

Not  only  were  symbolical  paintings  and  writings  of  ancient 
use  in  China,§  but  it  appears  also,  that  the  method  of  recording 
events  by  knotted  cords,  the  quippos  of  the  Peruvians,  the  wam 
pum  of  the  Indians,  was  likewise  known.||  It  is  said,  that 
"  among  some  Tartar  tribes,  it  is  customary  to  enregister  re 
markable  events  by  knotted  cords,  or  by  stringing  beads  on 
cords."!!  To  these  facts,  may  be  added  the  testimony  of  Led- 
yard,  who  says  "  the  wampum  so  universally  in  use  among  the 
Tartars,  apparently  as  an  ornament,  I  cannot  but  suspect  is  used 

*  Molina,  vol.  ii.  p.  167. 

t  The  Scythians  tattooed,  according  to  Pomponious  Mela  as 
quoted  by  Lafitau. 

J  Asiatic  Tracts,  vol.  i.  p.  219. 

§  Drummond's  Origines,  vol.  ii.  p.  311. 

||  Hum.  Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  28. 

T[  Major  Mercer,  in  Trans.  Lit.  and  Phil.  Soc.  Quebec,  vol.  i.  p. 
255. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  407 

sas  a  substitute  for  letters  in  representing  their  language  by  a 
kind  of  hieroglyphical  record."*  It  is  interesting  to  observe  in 
both  continents,  the  similar  forms  which  certain  arts  and  cus 
toms  have  assumed,  by  a  decline  in  civilization — the  change 
from  the  knotted  cords  of  the  Mexicans,  Peruvians,  and  Chi 
nese,  to  the  wampum  of  the  Indians  and  Siberian  nomades. 

The  game  of  chess  is  clearly  Oriental ;  and  Molina  asserts, 
that  it  was  known  to  the  Araucanians  by  the  name  of  Comilcan, 
and  that  they  had  possessed  it  "  from  time  immemorial."!  The 
sign  of  the  rabbit  led  the  Mexican  year,  and  was  of  a  divine 
character;  in  China,  it  was  not  only  one  of  the  signs  of  the 
zodiac,  but  was  also  sacred  to  the  moon.  In  one  of  Grosier's 
engravings  we  see  it  as  emblematic  of  the  moon,  represented 
as  turning  one  of  those  cylindrical  machines  for  producing  fire 
just  described,  and  which  were  used  in  China  and  America. 

Of  the  religion  of  the  Chinese  it  may  be  stated  without  de 
tail,  that  it  appears  to  have  recognized  the  existence  of  the 
Supreme  Being,  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul ;  to  have  be 
come  ultimately  degraded  into  the  worship  of  the  sun  and  celes 
tial  bodies,  the  worship  of  fire,J  the  consecration  of  animals,  the 
belief  in  numerous  spirits,  and  the  arts  of  divination  and  magic. 
The  expiatory  self-punishments,  the  rosaries  and  the  divine  triad 
remind  us  also  of  the  various  ancient  cults,  which  have  been 
considered.§  The  reverence  for  the  dead  is  here  carried  to  its 


*  Spark's  Life  of  Ledyard,  p.  251.        f  Molina,  vol.  ii.  p.  108. 

J  Drummond's  Origines,  vol.  i.  pp.  386,  387.  Asiatic  Res.,  vol.  ii. 
p.  377.  Davis'  China,  vol.  ii.  p.  102. 

§  "  Fo  is  one  person,  but  has  three  forms,"  according  to  the  Chi 
nese  books. — Davis,  vol.  ii.  p.  103. 


408  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

utmost  extreme,  for  they  absolutely  worship,  and  sacrifice  to 
the  spirits  of  their  ancestors.  In  the  month  of  August,  the 
Tlascalans  of  New  Spain  celebrated  the  festival  of  the  dead, 
when  they  offered  oblations  for  the  souls  of  their  departed 
friends ;  in  the  same  month,  occurred  the  Chinese  festival,  the 
ceremonies  of  which  consisted  in  chanting  masses  for  the  dead, 
and  in  making  religious  offerings  for  their  use  in  another  world. 
Similar  superstitious  rites  were  common  among  the  barbarous 
aboriginal  tribes. 

The  Chinese  style  of  architecture  seems  to  have  been  formed 
after  the  model  of  the  tent,  but  in  some  of  the  ancient  struc 
tures,  and  more  remarkably  still  in  the  tombs,  the  form  of  the 
terraced  pyramid  is  to  be  perceived.*  The  cemeteries  often 
consist  of  three  terraces  rising  one  above  another,  and  sur 
rounded  by  a  circular  wall  adorned  with  the  figures  of  men  and 
animals.  Tumuli  also  appear  in  their  burying  grounds;  and 
it  is  said  they  formerly  were  accustomed  to  preserve  the  bodies 
of  the  dead  by  exsiccation,  that  species  of  embalming  which 
was  sometimes  used  by  the  ancient  Americans.  It  was  usual 
formerly,  as  in  Mexico,  to  put  to  death  a  number  of  the  re 
tainers  of  a  deceased  emperor  or  noble,  at  his  interment.* 

The  remaining  points  of  resemblance  may  be  briefly  de 
scribed.  The  Chinese  and  Indo-Chinese  nations,  in  common 
with  the  Mongols,  delighted  in  dramatic  entertainments ;  they 
shave  the  head  with  the  exception  of  a  single  ringlet  upon  the 
crown ;  some  of  these  nations  still  practise  tattooing,  for  which 
others  have  substituted  the  custom  of  painting  their  faces; 
many  of  the  Chinese  towns  in  the  interior,  are  surrounded  with 
earthen  fortifications,  the  sides  of  which  correspond  with  the 

*  Barrow,  pp.  70,  222,  224,  227,  336. 


HISTORY   OF  THE  RED  RACE.  409 

cardinal  points,  and  the  gates  of  which  are  protected  on  the 
exterior  by  curtains  of  earth ;  the  Chinese  costume  is  similar  to 
that  worn  in  some  parts  of  South  America ;  their  rule  interdict 
ing  marriage  between  persons  of  the  same  surname,  resembles 
the  Indian  prohibition  against  intermarriage  between  persons 
of  the  same  clan ;  quails  were  sacred  birds  among  the  Mon 
gols,  and  they  were  sacrificed  in  Mexico  to  the  Sun  ;  the 
roads,  canals,  and  walls  of  the  Chinese  and  Mongols,  are  anal 
ogous  to  those  of  the  Peruvians  and  Mexicans ;  the  skulls  of 
enemies  killed  in  battle  were  preserved  as  trophies,  and  con 
verted  into  banqueting  cups ;  and  the  Cyclopean  arch  of  reced 
ing  steps  is  to  be  observed  in  the  Chinese  buildings.* 


*  Crawfurd's  Siam,  vol.  i.  p.  284;  vol.  ii.  p.  9.  Barrow,  pp.  4.  61, 
63.  Coxe,  pp.  215,  223.  Arch.  Am.,  vol.  ii.  p.  109.  Davis,  vol.  i.  p. 
268.  Thunberg's  Trav.,  p.  204.  Molina,  vol.  ii.  p.  82.  Du  Halde, 
vol.  ii.  p.  250. 

On  the  altar  of  the  ancient  temple  of  Hercules  at  Cadiz,  where 
a  fire  was  kept  continually  burning,  "  quails  were  sacrificed  because 
Hercules  had  been  restored  by  them  to  life." — Bryant. 

The  Chilians,  as  well  as  the  natives  of  Darien  and  the  West 
India  islands,  practised  a  method  of  taking  water-fowl,  precisely 
identical  with  that  customary  among  the  Chinese. — Molina,  vol.  ii.  p. 
23. 

c;  Our  road,"  says  Captain  Andrew,  "lay  along  the  banks  of  the 
Rio  Chico.  The  population  along  this  road  is  entirely  Indian,  under 
a  regular  Alcade  government,  and  they  inhabit  the  luxuriant  borders 
of  a  stream  which  are  irrigated  and  cultivated  with  even  Chinese 
economy.  It  struck  me  as  curious,  too,  that  their  dress  resembled 
the  Chinese,  as  well  as  some  peculiarities  in  their  manners."  "  The 
head  apparel  of  the  working-class  so  much  resembles  the  Chinese, 
that  I  almost  fancied  myself  in  the  paddy-fields  in  the  vicinity  of 

52 


410  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

The  Malays  and  Polynesians.     The  nations  of  these  two 
great  families  present  in  their  language,  appearance,  and  insti 
tutions,  such  deci  ed  features  of  resemblance,  that  it  is  impos 
sible  to  resist  the  conclusion,  that  they  are  all  of  common  origin. 
From  south-eastern  Asia  appears  to  have  issued  that  stream 
of  population  which  has  flowed  to  the  numerous  isles  of  the 
Pacific,  and  extended  at  least  to  Easter  island,  more  than  eight 
thousand  miles  from  the  shores  of  Asia,  and  within  eighteen 
hundred  miles  of  the  American  coast.     On  the  other  hand, 
these  nations  are  assimilated  to  the  Mongols,  and  though  their 
languages  differ,  there  seems  to  be  good  reason  for  supposing 
an  original,  but  very  ancient  connection  between  them.*     The 
brown  colored  tribes  of  Java,  and  other  islands  of  the  Indian 
archipelago,!  though  distinguished  by  several  unimportant  dif 
ferences,  belong,  physically,  to  the  same  race — and  we  shall, 
therefore,  without  distinction,  trace  such  analogies  as  may  be 
discovered  among  any  of  these  nations  to  the  American  abori 
gines.     The  Malays  use  a  rude  species  of  knotted  cords,  resem 
bling  the  quippos,  as  a  method  of  recording  and  remembering 


Whampoa."  *  *  "  They  secure  their  doors  with  wooden  locks  of 
the  Chinese  principle." — Andrews1  Travels  in  S.  Am.,  vol.  ii.  pp.  141, 
73,  78. 

*  Barrow,  pp.  34,  35,  123,  237.    Marsden's  Sumatra,  p.  296. 

f  Their  principal  physical  characteristics  are  a  brown  color,  high 
cheek  bones,  small  black  eyes,  long  lank  black  hair,  and  scanty  beard. 
"  These  Javans,"  says  Linschoten,  "  are  of  verie  fretfull  and  obsti 
nate  nature,  of  color  much  like  the  Malayans,  and  not  much  unlike 
the  men  of  Brasilia." — Linschoten 's  Voyages,  p.  34,  in  Crawfurd.  The 
Mew  Zealanders  tattoo  their  persons  with  certain  " heraldic  orna 
ments." — King  and  Fitzroy,  vol.  ii.  p.  579. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  411 

numbers  ;*  in  common  with  some  of  the  Polynesian  islanders, 
they  tattoo ;  and  compress  and  flatten  the  heads  of  infants  ;f 
they  formerly  cut  the  hair  short,  some  tribes  shave  the  whole 
head,  save  a  single  lock  on  the  crown  ;J  they  pluck  the  beard ; 
and  it  was  one  of  the  early  customs  to  distend  the  lobes  of  the 
ears  to  a  monstrous  size.  Some  of  the  natives  of  the  Pacific 
islands  interred  their  dead  in  a  sitting  posture  ;§  others  ex 
pose  them  upon  scaffolds,  like  some  of  the  tribes  of  our  western 
Indians  ;||  they  also  practised  a  method  of  embalming  similar 
to  the  American,  the  body  being  preserved  by  exsiccation,  with 
out  removing  the  entrails.  After  being  wrapped  in  numerous 
folds  of  cloth  it  was  then  interred,  or  placed  upon  the  temples  :1T 
these  embalmed  remains  resemble  closely  the  mummies  found 
in  the  Kentucky  caves,  both  in  the  method  adopted  for  their 
preservation,  in  the  wrappings  or  mummy  cloths,  and  in  the 
texture  and  fabrication  of  the  latter.  The  skulls  of  the  dead, 
as  well  as  those  of  enemies,  were  often  preserved  in  the  family 
for  many  generations,  as  was  the  case  also  with  the  nations  of 
the  Indian  archipelago,  the  Mongols  and  some  of  the  American 
tribes.  The  Malayan  and  Javanese  graves  are  frequently  sur 
mounted  by  a  simple  mound  of  earth.  "  Among  the  many  cus 
toms  common  to  the  Indian  islanders,"  says  Mr.  Crawfurd, 
"  there  is  none  more  universal  than  the  veneration  for  the  tombs 


*  Marsden,  p.  63. 

t  King  and  Fitzroy,  vol.  ii.  p.  527.    Marsden,  p.  45.    Porter's 
Voyage,  p.  114. 

J  Crawford's  Ind.  Arch.,  vol.  i.  p.  218.     Porter's  Voy.,  p.  111. 

§  Ellis'  Polynesian  Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  304. 

||  King  and  Fitzroy,  vol.  ii.  p.  567. 

IT  Ellis,  vol.  i.  pp.  3,  5.    Marsden,  p.  287. 


412  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE   ORIGIN  AND 

of  ancestors.     When  the  Javanese  peasant  claims  to  be  allowed 
to  cultivate  the  fields  occupied  by  his  forefathers,  his  chief  ar 
gument  always  is,  that  near  them  are  the  tombs  of  his  pro 
genitors.     A  Javanese  cannot  endure  to  be  removed  from  these 
objects  of  his  reverence  and  affection,  and  when  he  is  taken  ill 
at  a  distance,  begs  to  be  carried  home,  at  all  the  hazards  of  the 
journey,  that  he  may  sleep  with  his  fathers.     *     *     In  Java, 
conformably  to  this  feeling,  there  is  an  annual  festival  on  the 
eighth  of  the  month  of  Shawal,  held  in  honor  of  ancestors." 
The  ancient  Malayan  burying  places,  according  to  Mr.  Mars- 
den,  "  are  held  in  extraordinary  reverence,  and  the  least  dis 
turbance  or  violation  of  the  ground,  though  all  traces  of  the 
graves  be  obliterated,  is  regarded   as  an  unpardonable  sacri 
lege."     In  the  Pacific  islands  also,  a  festival  was  observed  at 
the  ripening  of  the  year,  similar  to  the  American  "  festivals  of 
the. dead,"  when  they  prayed  for  the  souls  of  the  deceased.* 
In  relation  to  another  usage,  we  must  again  cite  the  testimony 
of  Ledyard.   "  I  have  thought,"  he  says,  "  since  my  voyage  with 
Captain  Cook,  that  the  same  custom  (scalping)  under  different 
forms,  exists  throughout  the  islands  in  the  Pacific  ocean.     It 
is  worthy  of  remark,  that   though   the  Indians   at  Owyhee, 
brought  a  part  of  Captain  Cook's  head,  yet  they  had  cut  al  1 
the  hair  off,  which  they  did  not  return  to  us.     I  have  also  fre 
quently  o'bserved  the  islanders  to  wear  great  quantities  of  false 
human  hair.     All  savage  nations  are  fond  of  preserving  some 
badge  or  testimonial  of  the  victory  over  their  enemies  of  this 
kind.     The  ancient  Scythians    and  North  American  Indians 
have  preserved  the  scalps,  and  among  the  South  Sea  islanders, 
teeth  and  hair  are  in  repute ;  all  of  them  giving  preference  to 

*  Ellis,  vol.  i.  p.  270. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  413 

some  part  of  the  head."*  In  the  character  of  all  these  nations 
may  be  perceived  that  same  fortitude  and  capability  of  patient 
suffering,  connected  with  a  spirit  of  revenge,  which  distinguish 
the  American  aborigine.  Their  courage,  however,  is  not  of  a 
bold  and  daring  character,  but  their  military  enterprises  are 
conducted  with  great  caution,  and  by  frequent  resort  to  artifice 
and  stratagem.  Captives  receive  but  little  mercy,  and  if  they 
escape  tortures  and  death,  it  is  only  to  be  placed  in  the  bonds 
of  slavery .f  "  The  Indian  islanders,"  says  Mr.  Crawfurd,  "  are 
passionately  fond  of  flowers,"  and  Humboldt  makes  a  similar 
remark  of  the  Mexican  Indians. 

These  nations  believe  in  dreams,  omens,  sorcery  and  en 
chantments,  and  have  a  superstitious  attachment  to  relics.  The 
curing  of  diseases  is  accompanied  with  spells  and  incantations. 
The  priests  are  physicians,  who  like  the  aboriginal  sorcerers  pre 
tend  to  an  influence  over  evil  spirits,  which  are  the  cause  of  sick 
ness.  They  have  amulets  or  images ;  consult  the  deities, 
oracles,  and  sacrifices,  for  prophetic  disclosures  of  the  secrets  of 
the  futurejj  they  wear  masks  in  religious  ceremonies  ;§  and 
formerly  human  sacrifices  were  common.  The  custom  of  put 
ting  to  death  the  relatives  of  the  deceased,  existed  in  the  Indian 
and  some  of  the  Polynesian  islands.  "  I  .have  no  doubt,"  says 
Mr.  Crawfurd,  "  that  one,  parallel  to  that  of  the  Natchez  of 
America,  prevailed,  very  generally,  in  the  Indian  islands, 

*  Ledyard,  p.  251.  Porter's  Voyage,  p.  90.  Tour  through  Ha 
waii,  p.  145. 

f  Crawford's  Ind.  Arch.,  vol.  i.  p.  247. 

t  Polynesian  Res.,  vol.  i.  pp.  30,  34,  277,  283,  302. 

§  Marsden,  p.  388. 


414  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

wherever  arbitrary  and  despotic  authority  was  fully  established." 
Many  of  these  nations  believed  also  in  the  doctrine  of  the 
transmigration  of  souls,  and  in  that  of  future  rewards  and  punish 
ments  ;  and  they  were  not  backward  in  the  practice  of  austeri 
ties  and  expiatory  punishments. 

It  may  be  added  that  the  Cohans  and  other  Brazilian  tribes, 
the  Araucanians  and  Peruvians*  all  wore  the  PoncAo,f  which  is 
indentical  with  the  Polynesian  Tiputa  or  cloak ;  that  the  South 
American  and  Polynesian  girdles  are  similar ;  that  the  Pacific 
and  Indian  islanders  were  skilled  in  the  art  of  fortification,  and 
constructed  earthen  or  stone  fortresses ;  that  the  same  blind  and 
superstitious  adoration  was  paid  to  the  person  of  their  monarchs 
by  both  people  ;J  a  species  of  vapor  bath  is  used  in  some  of 
the  Oceanic  islands ;  they  betray  a  fondness  for  dances,  and 
these  are  often  of  a  religious  character  ;§  that  professed  story 
tellers,  and  dramatic  entertainments  afforded  a  principal  amuse 
ment;  that  some  of  the  tribes  were  skilled  in  the  working  of 
metals,  and  that  one  of  the  systems  of  enumeration  presents  a 
resemblance  to  the  Mexican  in  reckoning  by  tens,  twenties, 
forties,  four  hundreds  and  eight  hundreds.||  The  art  of  irriga 
tion,  and  of  cutting  the  slopes  of  the  mountains  into  terraces 

*  Henderson's  Brazil,  p.  213.  Molina,  vol.  ii.  p.  52.  Ellis,  vol.  i. 
p.  186. 

t  The  Poncho  is  worn  in  all  the  provinces  of  South  America, 
which  I  visited." — Stevenson,  vol.  i.  p.  41. 

J  Ellis'  Poly.  Res.,  vol.  iii.  p.  81. 

§  The  people  of  Celebes  had  their  "war-dances." — Crawfurd, 
vol.  i.  p.  122. 

||  Crawfurd,  vol.  i.  pp.  55,  120,  183,  241,  258,  et  seq. 


HISTORY   OF  THE  RED  RACE.  415 

for  the  purpose  of  cultivation  ;  the  sacred  enclosures  or  cities  of 
refuge ;  the  art  of  making  paper ;  the  traces  of  picture*  or  sym 
bolical  writing ;  the  arabesques  and  meanders  which  are  on 
the  war  clubs,  and  even  tattooed  upon  the  bodies  of  the  natives 
of  the  South  Sea  islands  ;f  the  earthen  and  stone  tumuli ;  and  the 
pyramidical  edifices, — all  approximate  these  people  to  the  Amer 
ican  aborigines,!  besides  many  other  customs  which  it  is  unne 
cessary  to  detail,§  and  the  affinities  in  language  and  religion 
which  have  already  been  indicated. 

The  Malays  secrete  their  names  like  the  Indians  ;||  in  the 
Indian  archipelago  the  natives  use  the  sarbacane,  a  lon^  tube 
for  dicharging  poisoned  arrows,  which  is  precisely  the  same  in 
strument  as  the  Esgaravatana,  used  by  the  South  American  In 
dians  who  live  on  the  banks  of  the  Orinoco  and  Madeira  rivers. 
The  latter  is  described  as  a  hollow  reed  through  which  enven- 


*  The  most-  ancient  Javanese  manuscripts  were  written  upon 
leaves  of  the  Loutar,  which  were  strung  together  by  cords.  The 
Siamese  were  folded  like  the  Mexican  in  a  zigzag  manner. 

f  Lang's  View  of  the  Polynesian  Nations,  p.  230. 

J  "  Various  points  of  resemblance  might  be  shown  between  the 
aborigines  of  America  and  the  natives  of  the  eastern  islands  of  the 
Pacific,  in  their  modes  of  war,  instruments,  gymnastic  games,  rafts 
or  canoes,  treatment  of  their  children,  dressing  their  hair,  feather 
head-dresses  of  the  chiefs,  girdles,  and  particularly  the  tiputa  of  the 
latter,  which  in  shape  and  size  exactly  resembles  the  poncho  of  the 
Peruvians." — Ellis'  Hawaii,  p.  441. 

§  The  customs  of  the  Huilli-che,  the  native  inhabitants  of  Chiloe, 
on  the  American  coast,  it  has  been  remarked  are  similar  to  those  of 
the  Polynesians. — King  and  Fitzroy,  vol.  ii.  p.  338. 

II  Marsden,  p.  292. 


416 


RESEARCHES  INTO  THE   ORIGIN  AND 


omed  arrows  are  discharged  by  a  puff  of  the  breath.*  Several 
of  the  plants  and  trees  useful  for  food  and  in  the  arts  are  com 
mon  to  America  and  the  islands  of  the  Indian  archipelago  and 
appear  to  be  indigenous  in  the  latter  place.  These  are  the 
yam,  the  indigo  plant,f  the  banana,  the  arnotto,  and  the  Sappan 
or  Brazil  wood.  Tobacco  is  most  extensively  used  in  south 
eastern  Asia ;  Ledyard,  who  was  never  restrained  from  utter 
ing  a  bold  conjecture  though  opposed  to  the  settled  opinions  of 
the  learned,  says  of  the  "  Tartars,"  that  when  they  smoke  the 
pipe,  they  "  give  it  round  to  every  one  of  the  company.  The 
form  of  the  pipe  is  universally  the  form  of  the  Chinese  pipe.  I 
expect  to  find  it  in  America,  since  the  form  of  the  pipe  on  the 
tomahawk  resembles  it.  *  *  As  the  Chinese  pipe  is  found 
universally  among  the  Siberian  Tartars,  I  think  it  probable  that 
the  custom  of  smoking  migrated  with  them  to  America,  and 
thence  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  made  its  wa*y  east  to  England." 
The  tenacity  with  which  this  production  has  retained  the  origi 
nal  Haytian  name  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  tends  to  prove  its 


*  Crawfurd's  Ind.  Arch.,  vol.  ii.  p.  222.  Henderson's  Brazil,  p. 
473.  Hum.  Pers.  Nar.,  vol.  v.  p.  545. 

f  The  coloring  matter  of  the  indigo  plant,  in  the  Indian  archi 
pelago,  is  known  by  the  Sanscrit  name  Nila.  The  Persian,  Sanscrit 
and  Arabic  nil  signifies  blue.  The  indigo  of  the  Nile  is  called  Nile  by 
the  Arabs.  Anile  is  said  to  be  the  American  name  for  the  same 
plant,  from  which  the  Portuguese  Anileira  was  taken  ;  and  so  exact 
a  coincidence  has  led  to  the  belief  that  the  American  term  is  of  Eu 
ropean  origin. — Clarke' s  Travels,  vol.  iii.  p.  106.  Crawfurd's  Ind. 
Arch.,  vol.  i.  p.  458.  Mod.  Trav.  Guatimala,  p.  209.  Drummond's 
Origines,  vol.  ii.  p.  79.  The  turkey  is  generally  supposed  to  be 
originally  from  America ;  but  Malte  Brun  says  this  bird  is  called  in 
German  the  "  cock  of  Calicut." 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  417 

American  origin,  though  the  practice  of  smoking  is  claimed  by 
the  Chinese  to  have  been  customary  among  them  from  a  great 
antiquity.*  Humboldt  and  most  naturalists  have  decided  that  the 
maize  (Zea  Maiz)  "  is  a  true  American  grain,  and  that  the  old 
continent  received  it  from  the  new."     Now  according  to  seve 
ral  of  the  aboriginal  traditions  this  plant  was  considered  to  be 
of  a  foreign  origin ;  for  example,  in  Mexico,  it  was  said  to  have 
been  introduced  by  the  Toltecs.     It  is  true  that  by  the  testimony 
of  Herrera  and  other  Spanish  writers,  and  by  the  quantities  of  this 
grain  found  in  the  granaries  and  huacas,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
of  its  existence  in  America  before  the  discovery.     But  the  real 
question  is,  whether  it  was  indigenous  to  any  other  portions  of  the 
earth.     The  name  applied  to  it  by  the  early  voyagers  was  Tur 
key  corn,  and  for  this  reason  Durante  erroneously  considered  it 
as  indigenous  to  Turkey.     But  M.  Bomare  ascribed  it  to  Asia, 
and  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Crawfurd  is  most  explicit  to  the  same 
point.f     "  After  rice,"  he  says,  "  maize  or  Turkey  corn  is  the 
most  important  production  of  agriculture  among  the  great  tribes 
of  the  (Indian)  archipelago.     The  word  Sagung,  which  I  im 
agine  to  be  purely  native,  is  the  term  by  which  this  plant  is 
known   from   one   extremity  of  the  archipelago  to  another. 
There  can  therefore  be  little  doubt,  as  in  the  case  of  rice,  that 
one  tribe  instructed  all  the  rest  in  its  culture.     As  far  as  a  mat 
ter  of  this  nature  is  capable  of  demonstration,  it  may  also  be  con 
jectured  that  maize  was' cultivated  in  the  Indian  islands,  before 
the  discovery  of  America,  and  that  the  plant  is  an  indigenous 
product.     The  name  bears  no  analogy  to  that  of  any  language 

*  Bell's  Travels. 

f  Crawford's  Ind.  Arch.,  vol.  i.  p.  366.     Stevenson,  vol.  i.  p.  44. 
53 


418  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

of  America,  although  in  respect  to  their  other  exotic  productions, 
whether  animal  or  vegetable,  either  the  native  term,  or  one 
which  points  at  the  origin  of  them,  is  invariably  preserved  in 
the  languages  of  the  Indian  islanders."* 

Mr.  Crawfurd  has  argued  that  the  early  civilization  of  the 
Indian  archipelago  originated  from  Java,  and  Dr.  Lang,  an  able 
and  zealous  advocate  of  the  common  origin  of  the  American 
and  Polynesian  nations,  considers  the  Indian  archipelago  to 
have  been  the  original  point  of  departure.  If  this  conjecture  be 
correct,  the  era  of  the  migration  is  to  be  placed  in  the  earliest 
ages,  and  certainly  before  the  period  when  the  art  of  writing 
was  introduced  into  Java.  The  relics  of  antiquity  which  are 
observed  throughout  the  Oceanic  islands  favor  this  idea.  "  The 
nations  inhabiting  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,"  observes  Mr.  Ellis, 
"  have  undoubtedly  been  more  extensively  spread  than  they 
now  are.  In  the  most  remote  and  solitary  islands  occasionally 
discovered  in  recent  years, — such  as  Pitcairn's  island,  on  which 
the  mutineers  of  the  Bounty  settled,  and  on  Fanning's  island, 
near  Christmas  island,  midway  between  the  Society  and  Sand 
wich  islands, — although  now  desolate,  relics  of  former  inhabit 
ants  have  been  found.  Pavements  of  floors,  foundations  of 
houses,  and  stone  entrances  have  been  discovered ;  and  stone 
adzes  or  hatchets  have  been  found  at  some  distance  from  the 


*  In  a  recent  work  upon  Egyptian  antiquities,  we  find  an  en 
graving  of  one  of  the  Egyptian  altar  figures,  "  which  holds  in  the 
right  hand  something  which  very  much  resembles  a  head  of  maize  or 
Indian  corn, — which,  however,"  observes  the  author,  "  it  cannot  be, 
as  that  grain  was  introduced  into  Europe  from  Virginia." — Egyptian 
Antiq.,  Lib.  Ent.  Know.,  vol.  ii.  p.  30.  Wilkinson,  vol.  i.  p.  397. 


HISTORY   OF  THE  RED  RACE.  419 

surface,  exactly  resembling  those  in  use,  among  the  people  of 
the  north  and  south  Pacific,  at  the  time  of  their  discovery." 
The  most  extraordinary  of  these  monuments  are  the  temples, 
which  are  regular  terraced  pyramids,  and  which  are  found  even 
in  Easter  island,*  the  nearest  the  American  coast.  In  conclu 
sion,  Dr.  Lang,  on  the  authority  of  La  Perouse  and  other  navi 
gators,  and  from  his  own  experience,  seems  to  have  obviated 
the  objection  which  has  been  opposed  to  the  easterly  course  of 
the  Polynesian  migrations,  in  consequence  of  the  usual  preva 
lence  of  easterly  winds,  by  showing  that  at  certain  seasons  of 
the  year,  westerly  winds  are  not  uncommon  in  certain  latitudes ; 
besides,  this  argument  is  based  upon  the  supposition  that  these 
islanders  have  never  been  more  advanced  in  the  art  of  naviga 
tion  than  at  present,  which  is  far  from  being  demonstrated.! 

*  Roggewein,  in  Mavor,  vol.  iv.  p.  146. 

f  There  exists  one  tradition  to  the  effect,  that  the  original  inhabit 
ants  came  from  the  west,  and  brought-with  them  several  domestic 
animals. — Ellis,  vol.  i.  pp.  99,  71. 


420 


RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE    PYRAMIDS. 

ANCESTRAL  Veneration  was  the  most  striking  characteristic 
of  the  various  families  of  the  Red  Race ;  and  in  truth  this  reli 
gious  sentiment  distinguished  most  of  the  primitive  and  culti 
vated  nations.  Of  the  three  methods  of  sepulture,  inhumation, 
embalming  and  cremation,  the  first  was  the  most  ancient,* — the 
literal  fulfilment  of  the  original  decree,  "  dust  to  dust."  With 
the  deceased  were  deposited  articles  destined  for  his  use  in  ano-» 
ther  life,  or  emblematic  of  his  profession  and  pursuits,  and  even 
tually  large  portions  of  his  wealth.  When  illustrious  persons 
or  chiefs  died,  the  simple  hillock  over  the  grave  was  swelled 
into  the  mound  or  tumulus,  the  easiest  and  earliest  method  of 
commemorating  his  distinction.!  The  sepulchral  pile  was  then 
surmounted  by  a  statue  or  pillar  of  stone.  The  Celtic  mounds 
of  the  British  isles  are  often  found  with  immense  blocks  of  stone 
on  their  summits;  "  the  pile  or  heap,"  says  Dr.  Clarke,  "  was 
generally  nothing  more  than  a  lofty  mound  of  earth,  more  rarely 
it  was  a  magnificent  pyramid.  A  square  platform  was  left  in 


*  Monumente.  Kempiana,  p.  153.  Pliny,  vii.  54.  Cic.  de  leg.  ii. 
18J. 

f  It  was  a  law  of  Odin  that  the  memory  of  distinguished  indi 
viduals  should  be  preserved  in  this  manner :  "  Mandavit  etiam,  ut 
optimatibus  magnos  tumulos  in  memoriam  erigerent." — Vide  Led- 
j  p.  42. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  421 

some  instances  upon  the  tops  of  these  pyramids  as  a  pedestal  for 
the  stele.  This  seems  to  have  been  the  case  upon  the  summit 
of  the  principal  temple  of  Djiza."*  Above  the  tomb  of  Por- 
senna,  a  series  of  pyramids  was  erected  ;  upon  the  tumuli  of 
Achilles  and  Patroclus  still  visible  near  Sigeum,  formerly  stood 
stele ;  the  Polynesian  pyramids  were  surmounted  by  statues  of 
stone ;  and  upon  the  Mexican  teocalli  were  the  statues  of  the 
gods.  It  was  a  primitive  usage  to  worship  upon  high  places, 
and  the  tumuli,  already  sacred,  would  naturally  be  preferred. 
Indeed  such  uses  originated  directly  from  the  feeling  of  rever 
ence  for  the  dead ;  the  eastern  nations,  .even  now,  worship  at 
the  tombs  of  their  ancestors ;  and  in  ancient  Italy,  before  the 
tomb  stood  an  altar  upon  which  incense  was  burnt.  The  tumu 
lus  thus  became  to  be  devoted  to  religious  services,  and  temples 
were  built  on  its  summit ;  but  even  in  the  more  finished  form 
of  the  pyramid,  its  sepulchral  uses  were  still  preserved.  The 
Irish  word  cill  or  kill  at  first  denoted  a  grave,  and  afterwards  a 
church  ;f  Athenagoras  styles  the  temples  of  the  ancients  Tctfpoi, 
or  tombs  ;  and  this  name  was  afterwards  given  to  the  Christian 
temples,  when  the  custom  of  burying  the  bones  of  martyrs  in 
them  was  first  adopted-!  According  to  Bryant,§  the  artificial 
mounds  in  Greece,  Egypt  and  Syria  were  crowned  with  towers 
and  temples ;  and  the  authorities  are  numerous  among  the  an 
cients  writers  which  prove  that  it  was  customary  to  erect  sacred 
edifices  upon  sepulchral  tumuli}^  The  pyramids  and  mounds 

*  Herodotus,  ii.  149.  t  O'Brien. 

J  Walpole's  Memoirs,  p.  231.  §  Bryant,  vol.  ii.  p.  127. 

H  "  Tumulum  Antiqme  Cereris.  sedem  que  sacratam  venimus." — 
JEneid,  1.  ii.  v.  742.  "  Et  tot  templa  deum  quot  in  urbe,  sepulchra 
Heroum  numerare  licet." — Prudentius:  in  Davies. 


422  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

have  sometimes  been  supposed  to  have  been  treasuries,  fortifi 
cations,  and  astronomical  observatories,  but  the  treasures  usually 
deposited  in  the  sepulchres,  the  care  which  was  taken  to  pre 
serve  them  from  hostile  attack  and  desecration  by  surrounding 
them  with  enclosures,  and  the  preference  for  this  style  of  tem 
ple-building  by  the  Sabean  nations,  sufficiently  refute  these 
ideas. 

We  proceed  now  to  trace  these  structures  from  the  Old 
world  to  the  New.  The  Temple  of  Belus,  or  Nimrod's  tower, 
as  it  is  now  called  by  the  Arabs,  was  a  truncated  terraced  py 
ramid,  consisting  of  eight  stories,  three  of  which  can  still  be 
perceived.  It  was  constructed  of  burnt  brick  strongly  cemented 
together,  was  surrounded  at  its  base  by  a  quadrangular  wall, 
and  had  a  tower  upon  its  summit,  the  ascent  to  which  was 
made  by  flights  of  steps  around  the  edifice.  Enormous  mounds 
of  brick-work  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Euphrates,  indicate 
that  other  structures  of  the  same  description  formerly  existed.* 

The  Egyptian  pyramids  are  the  most  ancient  monuments  in 
that  country,  and  the  epoch  of  their  erection  is  placed  by  some 
so  early  as  three  hundred  years  after  the  deluge.f  The  pyra 
mids  of  Jizeh  are  not  strictly  analogous  to  the  American  in  their 
form,  having  been  perfect  cones  probably  cased  from  the  sum 
mit  to  the  base.J  But  the  sarcophagus  found  in  one  of  them, 
the  rectangular  enclosures  which  in  part  surround  them,  their 
accurate  position  relative  to  the  cardinal  points,  and  the  re- 

*  Heeren's  As.  Res.,  vol.  ii.  pp.  156,  173. 

t  Wilkinson,  vol.  ii.  p.  256  ;  vol.  i.  p.  19. 

I  The  expression  of  Herodotus  in  relation  to  the  steps  which  ex 
isted  before  the  coating  was  finished  is  curious ;  he  calls  them 
"altars."  Lib.  ii.  c.  125. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  423 

mains  of  a  temple  in  front  of  the  second  and  third  pyramid,  all 
conduce  to  assimilate  them  to  those  of  America,  and  to  indicate 
their  combined  sepulchral,  religious  and  astronomical  uses  *  It 
is  to  be  observed  also,  that  the  rocks  upon  which  they  are  built 
are  filled  with  catacombs,  "  the  vaults  of  the  hill,"  and  the 
plains  in  their  vicinity  are  called  Kahi-Mhan,  "  the  land  of 
tombs,"  an  appellation  similar  to  that  of  the  plains  of  Teoti- 
huacan,  which  are  called  u  the  Road  of  the  Dead."  But  others 
of  the  Egyptian  pyramids,  and  those  which  with  some  reason  it 
has  been  supposed  are  the  most  ancient,  are  precisely  similar 
to  the  Mexican  Teocalli.  As  we  proceed  south  from  Jizeh  to 
Saccara  the  style  of  these  monuments  changes,  and  they  appear 
of  every  form,  size  and  structure,  from  the  simple  earthen 
mound  to  the  more  perfect  terraced  pyramid.!  The  pyramid 
at  Medun  has  a  square  base,  and  consists,  like  that  of  Cholula, 
of  several  retreating  platforms  or  stages,J  the  lowest  of  which 
is  about  twenty  feet  high,  and  it  is  composed  of  sun-dried  brick. 
One  of  the  pyramids  of  Saccara  is  built  with  six  terraces  of 
stone,  each  twenty-five  feet  high  and  eleven  wide.§  Two  py 
ramids  to  the  west  of  the  pyramids  of  Jizeh,  consist  each  of 

*  The  pyramids  of  Cholula  and  others  of  Mexico,  and  some  of  the 
great  mound-temples  of  the  United  States,  contained  chambers  and 
the  skeletons  of  the  dead. 

f  "  Clarke's  Travels,  vol.  iii.  p.  309. 

"  The  crude  brick  remains  about  Memphis  are  principally  pyra 
mids"  crumbled  into  decay. —  Wilkinson,  vol.  i.  p.  50.  According  to 
Herodotus,  Asychus  erected  a  brick  pyramid. 

%  Denon  says  the  number  of  platforms  is  five,  and  that  they  are 
composed  of  stone.  Vol.  i.  p.  317. 

§  Clarke,  vol.  iii.  p.  108. 


424  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

four  receding  platforms,  which  are  ascended  by  high  narrow 
steps :  the  summits  are  platforms.*  The  pyramids  of  Abousir 
are  formed  of  brick,  and  four  miles  to  the  south  of  Saccara  is 
one  constructed  of  the  same  material,  but  in  a  dilapidated  state; 
sufficient  remains,  however,  to  show  that  it  consisted  of  five,  if 
not  six  terraces,  each  ten  feet  broad  and  thirty  feet  high ;  the 
height  of  the  whole  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet.f  All  these 
edifices  face  the  cardinal  points.J  The  porticoes  of  the  Nubian 
pyramids  indicate  their  use  as  temples,  and  one  of  the  largest 
"  has  been  built  in  stories,  but  is  most  curious  from  its  contain 
ing  within  itself  another  pyramid  of  a  different  age,  stone  and 
architecture," §  and  which  reminds  us  of  the  double  tower  of 
Palenque. 

It  is  interesting  to  perceive  the  same  type  in  the  tombs  of 
the  brown  colored  race  of  Madagascar.  A  mound  of  earth  is 
thrown  up  over  the  grave,  which  "  is  surrounded  by  a  curb  of 
stone  work,  and  a  second  and  third  parapet  of  earth  is  formed 
within  the  lower  curb  or  coping,  generally  from  twelve  to 
eighteen  inches  in  height,  each  diminishing  in  extent  as  they 
rise  one  above  another,  forming  a  flat  pyramidical  mound  of 
earth,  composed  of  successive  terraces  with  stone  facing  and 
border,  and  resembling  in  appearance  the  former  heathen  tem 
ples  of  the  South  Sea  islanders,  or  the  pyramidal  structures  of 
the  aborigines  of  South  America."  The  summit  of  these  pyra- 


*  Egyptian  Antiq.,  Lib.  Ent.  Know.,  vol.  ii.  p.  238. 
t  Pococke,  p.  167.     Wilkinson,  vol.  i.  p.  131. 
J  The  same  position  may  be  observed  even  in  the  ancient  temple 
of  Jupiter  Ammon. — Minutoli,  p.  166. 
§  Waddington,  p.  176. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  425 

raids  is  ornamented  with  large  pieces  of  rose  or  white  quartz  ; 
and  they  are  often  twenty  feet  in  width  and  fifty  in  length. 

India.  Passing  next  to  India,  we  there  find  that  the  oldest 
forms  of  the  pagodas  are  pyramidical,  a  feature  of  Hindoo  ar 
chitecture,  which  distinguishes  it  strongly  from  that  of  the 
greater  part  of  Asia,  where  the  tent  has  been  the  object  of  imi 
tation.*  At  the  present  period,  small  earthen  tumuli  abound  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  villages  of  Bengal  ;  brick  pyramids  are  occa 
sionally  encountered  ;  and  most  of  the  pagodas  of  the  Carnatic 
are  either  complete  or  truncated  cones.  At  Benares,  there  is  a 
pyramid  formed  of  earth,  and  covered  with  bricks  ;  and  another 
composed  of  brick  work,  which  has  been  originally  cased  with 
stone;  the  size  gradually  diminishes,  and  the  summit  is  a 
mere  mass  of  ruins.f 

At  Hansi,  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  miles  from  Delhi,  is 
a  structure  in  the  shape  of  a  truncated  pyramid,  one  hundred  feet 
in  height.  The  exterior  slope  of  each  side  is  faced  with  brick, 
and  inclines  at  an  angle  of  seventy-two  degrees  ;  —  the  superior 
platform  has  been  in  recent  times  occupied  by  a  palace,  but 
probably  this  monument  was  anciently  a  temple. 

Upon  the  Ganduck  river  is  a  singular  edifice,  likewise 
constructed  with  brick.  Its  shape  is  that  of  a  cylinder  placed 
upon  a  truncated  cone  :  the  diameter  of  the  base  is  three  hun 
dred  arid  sixty  feet,  and  the  height  of  the  whole  one  hundred 
and  fifty-seven. 

At  Sehwan,  a  place  of  great  antiquity  upon  the  Indus,  is  an 
enormous  oval  mound  of  earth,  surrounded  from  the  base  to  the 


*  Heeren's  As.  Res.,  vol.  iii.  p.  68. 
t  Mod.  Trav.  Ind.,  vol.  vi.  p.  262  ;  vol.  viii.  p.  85. 

54 


426  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE   ORIGIN  AND 

summit  with  a  brick  wall.  It  is  twelve  hundred  feet  long, 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  broad,  and  is  said  to  resemble  the  tower 
of  Belus.*  In  Nepaul,  upon  a  hill  called  Simbi,  are  some 
tombs  of  the  Lamas  and  people  of  distinction,  several  of  which 
are  pyramids  finely  ornamented  and  sculptured. 

The  pagoda  has  been  originally  formed  upon  the  model  of 
the  pyramid.  Those  of  Deogur,  in  the  vicinity  of  Ellora,  three 
in  number,  are  built  w7ith  huge  blocks  of  stone  placed  one  upon 
another  so  as  to  form  a  pyramid,  the  summit  of  which  is  crowned 
with  the  trident  of  Mahadeva.f  The  beautiful  pagoda  of  Tan- 
jore  two  hundred  feet  high,  that  of  Madura,  and  the  black  pa 
goda  of  Juggernaut  are  all  pyramidical  edifices  of  hewn  stone 
piled  up  in  large  masses.  One  of  the  improvements  in  the  con 
struction  of  the  pagodas,  is  the  enclosure  or  wall,  which  was 
subsequently  added,  surrounding  the  base,  and  composed  of  brick 
or  stone.  These  contained  large  areas,  and  their  sides  faced 
the  cardinal  points.  The  entrances  to  the  pagodas  of  Raim- 
seram,  which  are  surrounded  by  walls,  are  in  the  shape  of  a 
truncated  pyramid,  and  similar  to  the  Egyptian  propyla.  The 
more  ancient  Hindoo  temples  bore  no  inscriptions  or  sculptures, 
but  the  outer  walls  of  others  are  covered  with  figures  of  ani 
mals,  men  and  gods,  like  the  Mexican,  and  subsequently,  whole 
scenes  from  the  great  epic  poems  were  added.J 

The  ancient  temples  of  Hindoo  origin  in  Java,  are  of  the 

*  Burne's  Travels  in  Bokhara. 

f  Heeren's  As.  Res.,  vol.  iii.  p.  74,  etc. 

J  The  word  pagoda  is  by  some  said  to  be  derived  from  Bhagavati, 
"Holy  house';"  by  others,  from  the  Persian  Putkedeh,  "House  of 
idols."  The  Sanscrit  appellation  Devalaya  signifies  "House  of  the 
gods,"  a  name  similar  to  the  Mexican. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  427 

same  character.  They  are  almost  all  pyramidal  buildings,  and 
are  composed  either  of  brick  or  stone, — the  outer  surface  of 
the  stone  temples  has  been  coated  with  a  fine  stucco,  and  in< 
the  interior  is  to  be  perceived  the  Cyclopean  arch.  They  are 
constructed  with  great  solidity,  they  face  the  cardinal  points, 
and  the  walls  are  covered  with  sculptures  which  have  been  exe 
cuted  after  they  were  laid,  as  the  same  figure  or  group  occupies 
several  blocks.  The  groups  of  temples,  called  *  the  thousand 
temples"  are  pyramidal;  they  are  approached,  through  "four 
entrances  facing  the  cardinal  points  of  the  compass,  and  each 
guarded  by  two  gigantic  statues  representing  warders."  "  The 
temple  of  Boro  Budur,  situated  in  the  mountain  and  romantic 
land  of  Kadu,  is  a  square  building,  of  a  pyramidal  shape,  end 
ing  in  a  dome.  It  embraces  the  summit  of  a  small  hill,  rising 
perpendicularly  from  the  plain,  and  consists  of  a  series  of  six 
square  ascending  walls,  with  corresponding  terraces,  three  cir 
cular  rows  of  latticed  cages  of  hewn  stone,  in  the  form  of  bee 
hives,  and  finally,  of  the  dome  already  mentioned.  *  *  * 
There  is  no  concavity  except  in  the  dome.  The  hill  is  in  fact  a 
sort  of  nucleus  for  the  temple,  and  has  been  cut  away  and  fash 
ioned  for  the  accommodation  of  the  building."*  The  same  au 
thor,  from  whom  this  description  is  taken,  mentions  another 
class  of  Javanese  temples.  "  They  may  generally  be  described," 
he  says,  "  as  consisting  of  a  succession  of  terraces,  for  the  re 
ception  of  which,  the  sides  of  the  mountain  are  scooped  out. 
There  are  three  of  these  terraces  at  Sukuh,  and  no  less  than 
twelve  at  Katto,  The  length  of  the  terraces  at  Sukuh  is  no 
less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  seven  feet,  and  the  depth  of  one 
of  them  eighty.  The  entrance  at  Sukuh,  is  by  a  flight  of  steps 

*  Crawford,  vol.  ii.  p.  198. 


428  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

through  a  triple  portal.  At  Katto  we  have  similar  ones,  up  to 
the  twelfth  or  last.  The  terraces  are  chiefly  occupied  by  statues 
and  sculptured  figures  of  animals."* 

The  Chinese  style  of  architecture  is  probably  imitated  from 
the  tent,  but  in  the  cemeteries  and  more  ancient  temples,  we  re 
cognise  the  graduated  pyramid.  This  is  particularly  the  case 
in  the  construction  of  the  altar  to  heaven  in  Pekin.  This  edi 
fice  stands  in  a  square  enclosure,  three  miles  in  circuit.  The 
terrace  consists  of  three  stages,  diminishing  from  one  hundred 
and  twenty  to  sixty  feet  in  width,  each  stage  being  surrounded 
by  a  marble  balustrade,  and  ascended  by  steps  of  the  same  ma- 
terial.f 

The  temples  or  Marais  of  the  Polynesians,  were  of  a  pyra 
midal  form,  and  encompassed  with  stone  enclosures.J  These 
pyramids  were  composed  in  steps  or  terraces,  with  a  level  area 
upon  the  summit,  and  were  often  of  large  dimensions.  The 
graduated  pyramid  of  Atehuru  was  two  hundred  and  seventy 
feet  long,  ninety-four  wide  at  the  base,  and  fifty  feet  high. 
The  outer  stones  consisted  of  coral  and  basalt,  were  well  hewn, 
and  regularly  laid.  Another  temple  still  standing  at  Maeva  is 
one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  square,  and  one  at  Ruapua,  in 
Owyhee,  is  formed  of  immense  blocks  of  lava,  and  is  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  feet  long  by  seventy  broad.§  Easter  island  con 
tains  the  most  remarkable  structures  of  this  kind.  They  are  all 
erected  with  layers  of  stone  cut  with  great  precision,  and  upon 
their  summits  are  enormous  colossal  statues  of  the  same  mate 
rial,  some  of  them  twenty-seven  feet  high,  and  representing 


*  Crawfurd,  vol.  ii.  p.  199.  f  Davis'  China,  p.  362. 

t  Ellis,  Pol.  Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  261.  §  Ellis,  vol.  iv.  p.  101. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  429 

human  figures.*  Of  these  Mr.  Ellis  gives  us  the  following  de 
scription.  "  The  most  remarkable  objects  in  Easter  island,  are 
its  monuments  of  stone  work  and  sculpture,  which,  though  rude 
and  imperfect,  are  superior  to  any  found  among  the  more  nu 
merous  and  civilized  tribes  inhabiting  the  South  Sea  islands. 
These  monuments  consist  of  a  number  of  terraces,  or  platforms, 
built  with  stones,  cut  and  fixed  with  great  exactness  and  skill, 
forming,  though  destitute  of  cement,  a  strong  durable  pile.  On 
these  terraces  are  fixed  colossal  figures  or  busts.  They  appear 
to  be  monuments  erected  in  memory  of  ancient  kings  or  chiefs, 
as  each  bust  or  column  had  a  distinct  name.  One  of  these,  of 
which  Forster  took  the  dimensions,  consisted  of  a  single  stone, 
twenty  feet  high  and  five  wide,  and  represented  a  human  figure 
to  the  waist ;  on  the  crown  of  the  head  a  stone  of  cylindrical 
shape  was  placed  erect ;  this  stone  was  of  a  different  color  from 
the  rest  of  the  figure,  which  appeared  to  be  formed  of  a  kind  of 
cellular  lava.  In  one  place  seven  of  these  statues  or  busts  stood 
together :  one  which  they  saw  lying  on  the  ground  was  twenty- 
seven  feet  long,  and  nine  in  diameter."!  *^fifiGTOft 

*  Ellis,  vol.  iii.  p.  242.    Beechey's  Nar.,  pp.  30,  37,  etc. 
f  Ellis,  vol.  iii.  p.  325. 


430  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 


CHAPTER   XII. 

CONCLUSION. 

THE  facts  adduced  in  the  course  of  the  preceding  investiga 
tion  tend,  it  is  conceived,  to  support  the  following  conclusions: 

I.  That  the  three  great  groups  of  monumental  antiquities 
in  the  United  States,  New  Spain,  and  South  America,  in  their 
style  and  character  present  indications  of  having  proceeded  from 
branches  of  the  same  human  family: 

II.  That  these  nations  were  a-  rich,  populous,  civilized  and 
agricultural  people ;  constructed  extensive  cities,  roads,  aque 
ducts,  fortifications,  and  temples;  were  skilled  in  the  arts  of 
pottery,  metallurgy,  and  sculpture ;  had  attained  an  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  science  of  astronomy ;  were  possessed  of  a 
national  religion,  subjected  to  the  salutary  control  of  a  definite 
system  of  laws,  and  were  associated  under  regular  forms  of  gov 
ernment  : 

III.  That  from  the  uniformity  of  their  physical  appearance ; 
from  the  possession  of  relics  of  the  art  of  hieroglyphic  painting; 
from  universal  analogies  in  their  language,  religion,  traditions, 
and  methods  of  interring  the  dead ;  and  from  the  general  preva 
lence  of  certain  arbitrary  customs,  nearly  all  the  aborigines  ap 
pear  to  be  of  the  same  descent  and  origin ;  and  that  the  bar 
barous  tribes  are  the  broken,  scattered,  and  degraded  remnants 
of  a  society  originally  more  enlightened  and  cultivated : 

IV.  That  two  distinct  ages  may  be  pointed  out  in  the  his- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  431 

tory  of  the  civilized  nations — the  first  and  most  ancient,  subsist 
ing  for  a  long  and  indeterminate  period  in  unbroken  tranquillity, 
and  marked  towards  its  close  by  the  signs  of  social  decadence ; 
the  second,  distinguished  by  national  changes,  the  inroads  of 
barbarous  or  semi-civilized  tribes,  the  extinction  or  subjugation 
of  the  old  and  the  foundation  of  new  and  more  extensive  em 
pires  :  and, 

V.  That  the  first  seats  of  civilization  were  in  Central  Amer 
ica,  whence  population  was  diffused  through  both  continents, 
from  Cape  Horn  to  the  Arctic  Ocean. 

In  relation  to  the  question  of  their  origin,  it  appears  : 

I.  That  the  Red  race,  under  various  modifications,  may  be 
traced  physically  into  Etruria,  Egypt,   Madagascar,  ancient 
Scythia,  Mongolia,  China,  Hindoostan,  Malaya,  Polynesia,  and 
America,  and  was  a  primitive  and  cultivated  branch  of  the  hu 
man  family :  and, 

II.  That  the  American    aborigines  are  more  or  less  con 
nected  with  these  several  countries,  by  striking  analogies  in 
their   arts,  their  customs  and  traditions,  their  hieroglyphical 
painting,  their  architecture  and  temple-building,  their  astro 
nomical  systems,  and  their  superstitions,  religion,  and  theocrat- 
ical  governments. 

It  has  long  been  a  favorite  theory,  to  trace  the  aborigines 
to  a  Tartar  or  Mongol  migration  from  Siberia,  by  Behring's 
straits.  But  the  Mexicans  and  Peruvians  resemble  the  culti 
vated  nations  of  Oriental  Asia,  even  more  closely  than  do  the 
ruder  tribes,  the  Siberian  nomades ;  in  fact  they  are  all  of  the 
same  race,  and  both  in  Asia  and  America,  a  decline  into  bar 
barism  has  produced  analogous  developments,  which  in  connec 
tion  with  the  relics  of  their  ancient  religion  and  customs,  nearly 


432  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

assimilate  the  savages  of  both  continents.  It  is  not  to  be  de 
nied  that  there  are  some  tribes  in  North  America,  which  may 
have  proceeded  in  modern  times  from  Siberia,  for  example,  the 
Chippewyans,*  and  perhaps  the  Sioux,  the  Osages,  Pawnees,! 
and  some  of  the  north-western  nations,!  but  even  in  relation  to 
these,  the  proof  depends  mainly  upon  vague  and  uncertain  tra 
ditions.  But  to  suppose  that  the  Mexicans,  the  Toltecs,  the 
Chiapanese,  the  Mayas  and  the  Peruvians,  were  the  descend 
ants  of  such  degraded  and  savage  hordes  as  occupy  north 
eastern  Asia ;  or  that  they  wandered  from  more  southern  Asi 
atic  countries  through  the  cold  and  inhospitable  regions  of  the 
north,  without  leaving  any  vestiges  of  civilization  on  their 
way,  appears  equally  contrary  to  experience  and  philosophy. 
The  ancient  monuments  in  Siberia  are  situated  to  the  west  and 
to  the  south,  those  of  America  are  limited  in  their  extent  on  the 
north-west ;  and  in  spite  of  the  facility  of  communication  af 
forded  by  the  contiguity  of  the  two  continents  in  that  direction, 
these  facts  would  seem  to  be  decisive  of  the  question.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  evidences  of  an  early  knowledge  of  the  com 
pass  in  China,  of  the  great  maritime  skill  of  the  Malays  and  of 
their  navigation,  in  remote  ages,  of  the  Asiatic  seas,  the  facts 
stated  in  relation  to  the  peopling  of  islands  by  the  accidental 
drifting  of  canoes,  and  more  than  all,  the  actual  proof  of  the 
distribution  of  population  over  the  numerous  and  distant  islands 
of  the  great  Pacific,  from  Asia  to  Easter  island,  render  it  unne 
cessary  to  resort  to  the  violent  hypothesis  of  a  northern  route. 
What  greater  obstacles  were  there,  to  impede  a  passage  from 

*  McKenzie's  Journal,  pp.  387,  113. 

f  Pike's  Expedition,  part  i.  p.  63 ;  part  ii.  p.  9,  14. 

I  Saner,  pp.  160,  177.     Coxe,  pp.  151,  257. 


HISTORY   OF  THE  RED  RACE.  433 

Easter  island  to  the  American  coast,  than  attended  a  migration 
to  Easter  island  1  Indeed  this  island  itself  appears  to  have 
been  successively  occupied  by  different  families ;  and  its  pyra- 
midical  edifices,  arid  its  colossal  obelisks  and  statues  are  closely 
analogous  to  the  American  monuments. 

When  and  by  whom  was  America  peopled  ?    This  interest 
ing  question,  if  it  shall  ever  be  solved,  of  course  can  be  answer 
ed  only  in  a  general  manner.     The  character  of  American 
civilization  is  not  wholly  indigenous.     Its  mutual  diversities  are 
no  more  than  might  naturally  arise  when  nations  of  the  same 
stock  are  separated ;  its  uniformities  are  great  and  striking,  and 
exhibit,  in  common,  an  astonishing  resemblance  to  many  of  the 
features  of  the  most  ancient  types  of  civilization  in  the  Eastern 
hemisphere.     The  monuments  of  these  nations  were  temples 
and  palaces ;  their  temples  were  pyramids ;  their  traditions  were 
interwoven  with  cosmogonical  fables,  which  still  retained  relics 
of  primitive  history ;  and  their  religion  was  sublime  and  just  in 
many  of  its  original  doctrines,  though  debased  in  their  super 
stitious   abuse   and  corruption.      In  all  this  there  is  nothing 
modern,  nothing  recent ;  these  features  are  not  strictly  Hindoo, 
Egyptian,  or  Chinese,  though  they  approximate  the  aboriginal 
civilization  to  that  of  each  of  these  nations.     The  origin  of  this 
resemblance  is  to  be  traced  back  to  the  earliest  ages,  when  these 
great  nations  first  separated,  and  carried  into  Egypt,  Hindoostan, 
China  and  America,  the  same  religion,  arts,  customs  and  insti 
tutions,  to  be  variously  modified  under  the  influence  of  diverse 
causes.     The  great  diversity  of  American  languages,  the  few 
analogies  they  present  to  those  of  the  old  world ;  the  absence 
of  the  use  of  iron ;  certain  peculiarities  in  their  astronomical 
systems ;  and  some  of  their  own  traditions  which  have  preserv- 

55 


434  RESEARCHES  INTO  THE  ORIGIN  AND 

ed  the  memory  of  the  great  events  of  ancient  sacred  history, 
and  attribute  the  colonization  of  the  continent  to  one  of  those 
tribes  who  were  present  at  the  dispersion  of  mankind,  all  tend 
to  support  this  position.  The  Red  race,  then,  appears  to  be  a 
primitive  branch  of  the  human  family,  to  have  existed  in  many 
portions  of  the  globe,  distinguished  for  early  civilization ;  and 
to  have  penetrated  at  a  very  ancient  period  into  America.  The 
American  family  does  not  appear  to  be  derived  from  any  nation 
now  existing  ;  but  it  is  assimilated  by  numerous  analogies  to 
the  Etrurians,  Egyptians,  Mongols,  Chinese,  and  Hindoos ;  it 
is  most  closely  related  to  the  Malays  and  Polynesians ;  and  the 
conjecture  possessing  perhaps  the  highest  degree  of  probability, 
is  that  which  maintains  its  origin  from  Asia,  through  the  In 
dian  archipelago. 

The  most  remarkable  peculiarity  in  the  institutions  of  all 
these  nations,  is  their  religious  character.  Laws,  government, 
the  arts  and  sciences,  and  the  whole  routine  of  private  and  public 
affairs  were  under  the  direction  of  the  priesthood.  Thence 
several  consequences  flowed, — the  preservation  from  a  rapid 
decline  into  barbarism,  so  long  as  religion  retained  its  suprema 
cy, — the  utter  absence  of  all  progression  and  improvement, — 
and  the  stereotype  character  of  the  whole  system  of  society. 
The  sciences  were  occult,  long  religious  probations  were  neces 
sary  before  their  principles  were  taught,  and  thus  no  generation 
possessed  an  advantage  over  the  preceding  one.  Knowledge 
and  civilization  were  not  animate  and  instinct  with  natural 
warmth  and  vigor,  but  were  embalmed,  and  like  a  shrivelled 
mummy,  presented  the  mere  outward  form  with  none  of  the  vitality 
of  existence.  From  this  continued  religious  subjection  originated, 
also,  that  unchangeableness,  that  fixed  and  immutable  character 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RACE.  435 

which  distinguished  all  these  nations,  and  which  is  a  marked  and 
prominent  trait  even  of  the  savage  Indian.  An  inflexibility 
which  adheres  tenaciously  to  old  forms  and  customs,  and  des 
pises  change  ;  which  may  be  overpowered,  but  never  yields  ;  and 
which,  in  view  of  the  dreary  impending  fate  of  the  aborigines, 
possesses  an  air  of  melancholy  grandeur ;  for,  as  one  of  those 
coming  events  which  "  cast  their  shadows  before,"  the  absolute 
extinction  of  this  ancient  race  seems  to  be  rapidly  and  irresistibly 
approaching.  Upon  this  continent,  the  pure  types  of  the  new  and 
the  old  era  of  civilization  have  met  and  encountered  each  other. 
The  family  presenting  the  one,  having  occupied  this  vast  region 
for  countless  ages  undisturbed  by  the  approach  of  other  and 
modern  races,  had  been  allowed  the  amplest  scope  for  develop 
ment.  And  yet  at  the  discovery  the  greater  portion  of  the  con 
tinent  was  inhabited  by  savage  hordes;  within  the  United  States, 
the  barbarous  tribes  appear  to  have  been  greatly  depopulated, 
and  the  ancient  and  cultivated  nations  to  have  become  extinct ; 
even  in  Mexico  and  Peru  the  civilization  of  the  first  ages  seems 
to  have  surpassed  that  of  later  times,  and  society  generally  was 
in  a  state  of  decadence.  The  old  system, — its  moral  and  social 
elements, — its  capacity  for  self-improvement, — had  thus  been 
fairly  tried  and  tested  ;  and  the  time  had  arrived  when  a  new 
race,  and  the  Christian  religion,  were  appointed  to  take  posses 
sion  of  this  soil. 


THE    END. 


